g for her hunt of Newland Archer. We are treated to another glimpse of May’s cold personality when Newland visits her at St. Augustine. He is feeling unnerved by his feelings for Ellen and needs to re-pledge his commitment to May. He finds her in the garden:Across the warm brown of her cheek her blown hairglittered like silver wire; and her eyes too lookedlighter, almost pale in their youthful limpidity. As shewalked beside Archer with her long swinging gaither face wore the vacant serenity of a young marble athlete. Wharton describes May as a marble statue; she has made her immortal and cold, a goddess. Newland’s guilt about his growing feelings for Ellen Olenska are peeked when May asks for assurances of his faithfulness. He thinks she is superhuman, immortal. She is one of the most immortal of Wharton’s immortal characters. She maintains her icy nature even throughout her honeymoon. Her true nature is exposed when she advocates that Ellen, rather than divorce, live with her husband in New York. Newland is outraged by the suggestion. He can’t understand how his pure, innocent May could think that Ellen would want to live with an abusive husband. He realizes that watching the sorrows of their peers is considered sport by members of their society; he is incensed that May has joined their ranks. She is like a god, looking down from above, enjoying the destructive results of her pronouncements.The archery tournament provides Wharton’s most vivid instance of May's godliness and hence her immortality. When we see her emerge from the tent, she carries herself with the same aloofness she presented when she entered the Beaufort ballroom on her engagement night. Wharton reiterates her Diana-like qualities. She stands apart from the others, a nymph who has defied the aging that usually comes with years. Another attribute of her immortality, is her determination to never show emotional pain. Newland...
