In the `Age of Innocence', Martin Scorsese portrays a society so controlled by manners and customs that the individuality of the characters particularly that of Newland Archer and Ellen Olenska has to be hidden and repressed. They are both made to conform to the rigid rules of upper class New York of the 1870s in order for them to remain a part of the society.

According to the film, upper class society in `Age of Innocence' places much emphasis on wealth and image. The privileges and status of the upper class are defined by a person's fortune, beauty and their families place in the system of hierarchy on which their world is based. "The real thing was never said or done or even thought." Great importance is placed on material...