The Age of Innocence: Chapter 5 Summary & Analysis

The next evening, Sillerton Jackson comes to dinner at the Archers’ house. Mr. Jackson and his sister Sophy, who lives with him, collect between them all the gossip worth knowing. Mrs. Archer is shy and doesn’t entertain often, but she invites Mr. Jackson to dinner whenever she wants the latest gossip. Mr. Jackson prefers to come when Archer isn’t there, since he sometimes seems to question the intelligence that Mr. Jackson brings. He also wishes that the Archers’ food were slightly better, but the families to which the Archers are connected have always been devoted to travel, horticulture, and literature rather than food and money.

Mrs. Archer has been a widow a long time and lives with her son and daughter. Archer has the upper floor, while Mrs. Archer and her daughter Janey live together below, reading novels set in Italy. They read about peasant life for the descriptions of scenery, but they understand better the novels about people in high society. When they travel abroad, they always admire the scenery rather than the art or architecture. Mrs. Archer was born a Newland, and she and her daughter both have the tall, pale Newland look. They appear and act almost like sisters. Though they have similar mannerisms, Janey is more romantic and imaginative than her mother. They love each other and Archer deeply, and Archer is satisfied by the authority they give him in the house.

Archer is sure that Mr. Jackson doesn’t want him around at dinner, but he stays anyway. Everyone wants to talk about Ellen Olenska, and, since Archer’s presence makes this awkward, he’s curious to see how they’ll deal with it. They begin by talking about the regrettable presence of Mrs. Struthers at the ball. They blame her invitation on Beaufort, whom Mrs. Archer has never trusted. Mr. Jackson claims that Mrs. Struthers came from a mine or a saloon. He hesitates to go on because of Janey’s presence, but he says that Lemuel Struthers used her image to advertise his shoe polish and then eventually married her.

Mrs. Archer doesn’t really care about Mrs. Struthers, so she turns the conversation to Ellen Olenska. She’s very glad to have Archer safely engaged to May Welland, an advantageous match, particularly after his earlier obsession with the married Mrs. Rushworth. However, she’s unhappy that Ellen Olenska’s presence forced the couple to announce their engagement prematurely. Though Mrs. Archer was perfectly polite when they went to visit Mrs. Welland, Archer could tell she was worried that Countess Olenska would appear at any moment. Still, he and his mother have never discussed what they were actually thinking about, so they didn’t discuss this, either. Archer doesn’t mind hearing Ellen Olenska talked about in private at dinner, but he’s already beginning to get bored of the subject.

Mr. Jackson is visibly dissatisfied with the food, and he remarks that Archer’s grandfather loved a good meal. Then he says that Ellen Olenska wasn’t at the ball, but Beaufort certainly knows her, as everyone saw them walking together just that afternoon. Janey wonders what kind of hat she wears in the afternoon, since at the opera she was wearing something that looked like a nightgown. Mrs. Archer remarks that it’s good that Ellen Olenska didn’t go to the ball, but Archer says she only stayed away because she didn’t think her dress was fancy enough. Mrs. Archer and Mr. Jackson pity Ellen, implying that her fate was sealed when her guardian, Medora Manson, gave her too much freedom growing up.

Janey says that Ellen should have changed her name to Elaine to sound more Polish, but Mrs. Archer says the name is too conspicuous. Archer, however, argues that Ellen shouldn’t have to hide just because she made a bad marriage. Mr. Jackson says there are rumors of worse, but Archer argues that the secretary with whom she’s supposed to have had an affair helped her get away from her brutish husband, which is perfectly honorable. Mr. Jackson says Ellen intends to get herself a house, and Janey says she intends to get a divorce. Archer exclaims that she should, but Mrs. Archer stops this line of discussion because of the butler’s presence.

After dinner, Mrs. Archer and Janey go to the drawing room, where they work on embroidery. Meanwhile, Archer and Mr. Jackson smoke cigars in the library. Mr. Jackson remarks that the secretary didn’t only help Ellen escape her husband, since they were seen living together a year later. Archer argues that there’s nothing wrong with that, since her husband was a good-for-nothing. He says women should be as free as men, not thinking about the consequences of what he’s said. Mr. Jackson says Ellen’s husband must agree, since he’s never tried to get her back.