Tensions in a Changing America: Conflicts Between Individual Desires and Social Authority in Daisy Miller, Tracks, and The Age of Innocence
- Rosie Higgins
- Jan 21
- 1 min read
Author Bio:
Rosie Higgins is in her final year at The University of Edinburgh, pursuing a degree in English Literature. Over the course of her studies, she has explored a wide range of literary genres and styles but has consistently been drawn to American fiction, particularly from the 19th Century onward. She enjoys examining this genre in the context of contemporary American politics, using it to critique ideas such as the American Dream and democracy while reflecting on America’s broader historical journey. This interest inspired her to take courses like American Innocence, which shaped this essay by analyzing the tension between individuality and social norms.
Abstract:
This essay examines the conflict between individual desires and social authority in Henry James’ Daisy Miller (1878), Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence (1923), and Louise Erdrich’s Tracks (1988), situating the tension within America’s evolving social and cultural frameworks. Each text highlights the struggle between emerging ideals of individualism and the lingering dominance of patriarchal, racial, and class-based hierarchies. In Daisy Miller, James critiques patriarchal and class authority through Daisy’s defiance of social norms and Winterbourne’s futile attempts to categorize her. Wharton’s The Age of Innocence mirrors this tension, with Ellen’s desire for autonomy clashing with the rigid structures of New York’s elite society, which silences her through exclusion. In Tracks, Erdrich contrasts Nanapush’s resistance to colonial oppression with Pauline’s self-imposed religious authority that erases her indigenous identity. Together, these works reveal how the promise of American individualism is continually undermined by entrenched social structures, offering diverse perspectives on the cost of navigating personal freedom in a constrained society.
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