is an eerie concept. Newland Archer thinks she has: “been rather gruesomely preserved in the airless atmosphere of a perfectly irreproachable existence, as bodies caught in glaciers keep for years a rosy life-in-death." The van der Lyudens’ state of immortality is emphasized as they are also considered Ellen’s protector, like deities. And now we’ll turn to the more pivotal characters in Wharton’s tale. First, we’ll discuss Newland Archer’s fiance, then wife, May Welland. She might be compared to another character from mythology, the huntress Diana: “Horace neatly embodies the triple functions of Diana (as Artemis, mistress of animals; Lucina, goddess of childbirth; and Hecate, goddess of the Underworld).” To sing her praises and underscore her importance, he wrote the following hymn to her: Guardian of mountains and woods, virgin, you who, when called upon three times, hear women labouring in childbirth, three-formed goddess, let the pine that overshadows myvilla be yours, to which I will gladly sacrifice at the endof each year the blood of a boar as it prepares the sidewaysslash [of its tusk]. Diana is immortal. She is a woman’s woman; revered and extolled; even songs of praise were written for her. May, too, is a woman who wants all the trappings of her female circle; she wants an appropriate engagement, a wedding, a marriage, and children; she expects the same reverence from a faithful husband. But unlike Diana, May is wilful and cunning. She sets her sights on Newland and does everything in her power to acquire and to keep him. She is far from innocent; she uses mortal means to maintain her immortal place in society.When we first see May she is dressed in white and fingers white lilies of the valley with her white gloves. We assume she is pure and innocent; but Wharton’s comparison of May Welland to Diana is meant to emphasize her skill and cunnin...
