Which novel did Martin Scorsese’s The Age of Innocence adapt?

Martin Scorsese’s The Age of Innocence adapted Edith Wharton’s novel The Age of Innocence.

Wharton’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel was published in 1920 and examines upper-class New York society during the 1870s. Scorsese’s film, released in 1993, preserves the story’s focus on social rules, reputation, and constrained romantic choices.

Daniel Day-Lewis plays Newland Archer, a lawyer engaged to May Welland, while Michelle Pfeiffer portrays Countess Ellen Olenska. Winona Ryder plays May. The screenplay was written by Jay Cocks and Scorsese, and the narration uses passages from Wharton’s prose.

The film is often remembered primarily as a literary period drama, which can obscure its connection to Scorsese’s wider interests in social systems and forbidden desire. It received five Academy Award nominations and won Best Costume Design for Gabriella Pescucci.