the end

Well here's how it ended just in case anyone was wondering. Ellen goes back to Europe but doesn't go back to her husband. Newland and May stay together, and eventually have several children. Many years later, after May has passed, one of Newland's sons Dallas goes to Europe and asks Newland to go with him they go and Dallas says that, before May died she asked him to go see her cousin Ellen. So Dallas and Newland go to her house but Newland is too scared to go in because he feels like his part in her life is over, so he sits outside and visualizes Dallas talking to Ellen then goes back to his hotel. Also at the end of the book, Dallas has just became engaged to Fanny Beaufort who is rumored to be the illegitimate son of Beaufort. However New York is finally changing and people don't seem to care as much about people's past and instead try to move on. Fanny is a good, nice woman, and Dallas even says to his father that they actually talk, implying how May and Newland were married but very separate.

Chapter 27-28

Chapter 27- Mr. Beaufort the once prominent banker, was suffering a financial crisis so great it reminds me of today. It was said that "his failure promised to be one of the most discreditable in the history of Wall Street." Then Newland gets a note from May saying that her grandmother (Mrs. Manson Mingott) had a stroke, and that he should go to her house to see her. Apparently Mrs. Beaufort went to Mrs. Mingott's house to ask her for her financial support through Beaufort's crisis and she went into shock mode after she left leading to the stroke. The fact that she asked her for help is a very big deal back then and should never ever be done. Mrs. Beaufort was away alone without any help. Then Mrs. Mingott asked for Ellen to be told for she should know and May asked Newland to do it since he was going to Washington for business anyway. It was then when I realized how strong May really was and I began liking her. I had always thought she was weak and ignorant. However she said it was funny how they would cross paths. Ellen was coming to New York yet Newland would be in Washington on "business."

Chapter 28- Newland goes to the telegram office to so he can send a telegram to Ellen and he meets Mr. Lefferts there they discuss the stroke for a moment and then move on. Due to all the publicity about Beaufort's failure the stroke was unknown about by many. Beaufort's loss was great and all were affected. Mrs. Beaufort practically begs her friends to help her which is seen as unacceptable by New York high society and New York will have to suffer over the lack of such a great ball-room. I realized that New York society was important but i was shocked about this I mean, way to kick someone when they are down. I would have thought there were exceptions but instead people are sad that they lose the ball-room. Newland volunteers to get Ellen from the train station, yet later that night May asks him how he could possibly pick Ellen up from the station if he will be in Washington. He regrets giving May so many details and lies to her telling her the meeting is postponed but May is sharp she asks why Mr. Letterblair is going and he makes up yet another lie.

Chapter 26

Chapter 26- As fall came around, New York was changing, and Mrs. Archer felt that it always changed for the worse. Mr. Beaufort was bankrupt, and was suffering greatly. Also Mrs. Struther's parties were no longer looked down upon and although Ellen was one of the first, of social status, to attend this, she received very little credit. Mrs. Struther's even was invited to a party of Medora Mason's. Ellen was somewhat of a black sheep in her family. She was considered "Bohemian," which I guess is very bad for back then. Archer also wonders why May blushed when Ellen's name was mentioned. Newland describes his life like "an absent-minded man who goes about bumping into furniture of his own room." Also people are beginning to comment about Ellen, not returning to her husband, other than family (Mr. Jackson). Mr. Jackson suggests that along with Mr. Beaufort's financial problem, Ellen will suffer too(implying adultery). Newland says that he was "burning with unavailing wrath: he was exactly in the state when a man is sure to do something stupid, knowing all the while that he is doing it." I found this interesting because he then gave away how little he knew about the family's decisions concerning Ellen. On the way home, May was very quiet and Newland knew it was due to his outburst about Ellen. At home he tells her that he may have to go to Washington for a few days and says it is for business, but May doesn't seem to believe him. She then tells him to make sure he visits Ellen and then smiles and says that perhaps that is the only reason he is even going there. So obvoiusly there is more doubt than I expected in this relationship, I thought that May was more gulliable than is was, but really she knew his intentions and wished him the best of luck in Washington.

Chapter 25

Chapter 25- Newland saw that day as a failure because he didn't touch Ellen, or make any promises about future plans. he sees the face that was unlike any other and realizes that it is because it is not an American face and that it is Monsieur Riviere. Also shockingly he is the messenger that Count Olenski sent. Newland is at first furious then the man tells Newland that he actually wishes that Ellen would not return to her husband and he was only doing his job. He also wants Newland to try and convince the rest of Ellen's family that it is a bad idea for her to return to him. Then Newland realizes that he was excluded from these decisions within Ellen's family, he thought that her family disapproved but were staying out of it but really they were trying to keep him out of it. Newland then remembers May saying something to him, which he feels was a test to see where he stood on the matter and he failed thus he was kept out of all the discussions with the family. Monsieur Riviere says that Ellen has changed and that America has changed her such so that she couldn't go back to European customs. Newland also begins to think that perhaps Monsieur Riviere is the secretary from the past when he says that he has known the Count and Ellen for several years ( I immediatly thought this when i heard that he was the messenger from the Count).

Chapter 24

Chapter 24- Newland listens to Ellen talk, he says very little because "he is scared he will miss something important." Ellen said she left New York because she was sick of the way she was treated, she didn't like New York's society. She felt that by moving the Washington, she would meet people, who had more opinions and there was variety. She also mentions that she hasn't seen Beaufort in a very long time. It seems that his love for May is because he is physically attracted to her, but his love for Ellen is because he is emotionally attracted to her. He even asked her why she didn't just go back to Europe and she says it is because of him. She says that he taught her so much, like that even the most shabby of objects should be greatly appreciated. They talk about how Newland's marriage seems like a sham and that he lives two lives; a fake public one and a real one that he experiences with Ellen. In the end, Newland realizes he cannot live without her and she promises that she won't go back to her husband. Newland however is terrified that he will lose her and never see her again, yet they both promise that they will be a part of each other's lives yet not act on their love.

Chapter 23

Chapter 23- Newland goes to Boston to see Ellen, she is not at the house but he finds her sitting under a tree on a bench. He tells her that he was in Boston on business and she said that she was too. Newland said that he wasn't used to her voice, and that he had forgotten what it had sounded like. Ellen says that she is in Boston because her husband offered her a large sum of money to come back to him. The Count didn't actually come to Boston himself and he doesn't like writing letters so he sent a messenger. He then suggest that they spend the day together on a boat. Then Ellen asks him why he didn't talk to her that day at the beach, he blushed and told her the truth. Newland seems convinced that it was fate that he had a envelope with him so she could leave a note at the hotel and didn't have to go get one, and that there was a cab waiting for them (cabs weren't as popular back then). Then something really weird happened, Newland saw a face that he described as unlike any face before, which confused me, I mean who is this guy? But Newland didn't go into anymore detail, about the man. However Ellen came out of the hotel and they went on a boat together, at first they didn't really talk and Newland was mesmerized by how calm Ellen looked. Then when they reached the dining-room of an inn, there were many loud people around, so Newland asked for a private room. He said he wanted to talk as old friends would.

Chapter 22

Chapter 22- The Blenkers were having a party, and although the Blenkers were odd since they were important members in New York society, people went to these annual events. The Wellands discussed this and asked Newland if he and May would go but Newland seemed bored by it all. Mrs. Welland complained to May that he never planned ahead, instead he would spend his time reading a book. Only when Newland speaks of getting a horse for May does Mrs. Welland see him planning ahead. So Newland takes off for a few hours, he decides that he doesn't necessarily want to talk to Ellen but to see where she has been living and how she is. He went by the house where she was staying hoping that he would see her, but no. He passed by a garden and saw a pink parasol and was certain that it was hers, then one of the Blenker girls appeared and said it was her parasol and that Ellen had been called away to Boston for two days. He tells the girl that he will be in Boston tomorrow and perhaps he could call on Ellen and the girl tells him exactly where she was staying.