The role of the closed community in Edith Wharton¿s ¿The Age of Innocence¿ and Stephenie Meyer¿s ¿Twilight¿

Essay from the year 2015 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 1,3, University of Potsdam, course: New York Fiction in Time and Space, language: English, abstract: Safety and protection are basic human needs. Every child who has ever lain awake at night, wondering about the monsters under the bed, will attest to the fact, that it¿s not only the walls and the doors that make a house safe, it¿s the people in it. In big cities, one tends to be surrounded by people, but the emotional connection remains missing. But even there, this basic need for safety and contact has to be satisfied: communities evolve.

Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" and Edith Wharton's "The Age of Innocence" develop tight communities. They throw a spotlight on the inner workings of social interactions. Each story shows how secrets are protected, feelings develop and get hurt. The 1920s classic and the modern bestseller have more in common than one may think.