May's "Guileless" Nature

Throughout Age of Innocence Archer's perspective of May is narrow in that he assumes she is unaware so that he could "take the bandage from her eyes and bid her to look forth on the world." Yet May doesn't require Archer's guidance to achieve her goals or craft her manipulation. Instead, May is more thinking and aware than Archer realizes. These charactarestics can be demonstrated in May because her eyes illustrate how she is a determined and more influential individual. Therefore, it is important to note that Archer underestimates May's acumen and guileless factor, in the sense that May is only ostentatiously innocent, but inherently mature. During the opening scene, one is introduced to May from Archer's persepctive. May is described as "a young girl in white" with "rosycheeks" and her hands "white-gloved finger tips" grasping lilies of the valley, flowers that are symbolic of chastity and fertility. However, this image of the 'innocent' girl is soon dissolved as Archer asks May to advance their wedding while he finds himself falling more and more in love with Ellen. May's eyes turn hard and are filled with such "despairing clearness" that illustrate she is fulling perceiving of the fact that Archer may be in love with somebody else. Even her words are spoken with "resolutely steadied lips" which juxtapose against the image of her "trembling lips" during the after ball following the Opera. However, despite the awareness of Archer's love for Ellen, May advances the wedding date so that they can become husband and wife faster, therefore making their marriage permenant and so no one else like Ellen can come inbetween them. May's cunning manipulativeness can also be illustrated when Archer announces that he must make a trip to Washington. Although May never directly confesses to Archer that she is aware he is going to Washington in order to meet Ellen, she does, however, look at Archer "straight in the eyes with a cloudless smile" illustrating that she is fully aware he is going to Washington not on buisness in the literal sense but to find Ellen. However, instead of directly confronting Archer on the subject May decides to use her Grandmother's stroke as a nexcuse in order to delay or possibly even cancel Archer's departure. Yet Archer still manages to meet with Ellen, so that the next time May sees him her eyes are described "so blue they shown with tears" clearly showing the fact that May feels sadddened by the fact that Archer is falling in love with Ellen. Yet soon after, May has a long talk with Ellen, and later on, it is evidenced that this scene is pivotal, though the secret isn't exposed until the later chapters of the book. Yet, even though the subject matter conversed between the two women isn't yet revealed at this point, one can realize the obvious change of charactar in May and in her spirits as she comes home with "eyes brimming with happy tears" and uncharactaristically, carresses her husband due to her sheer joy. Although not explicit, it is obvious that May is celebrating over some sort of victory. Even at the Opera, May's manipulativeness is evident when she decides to wear her wedding dress, even though she had seldom ever wore it during the past two years. By wearing the wedding dress, May serves as a constant reminder to Archer that she is ,indeed, his bride which causes Archer to feel a sense of guilt that he nearly confesses to May that he is in love with Ellen. Yet May astutely recognizes Archer's near point of confession so that she decides to promptly and opportunely reveal to Archer that Ellen is going back to Europe soon, therefore shattering the hope that Archer has for getting together with Ellen. Yet the greatest sense of accomplishment occurs during Ellen's farewell dinner when May's eyes are shown "glittering with victory." For May is now completely certain that Archer will never leave her, and she is right. Inevitably, when the dinner is over Archer does completely confess and states explicitly that he would like to be together with Ellen yet May smartly and craftily reveals that she's pregnant.