It is a well-known dilemma in literature: a man between two women. If he chooses the one he loves, he loses family, reputation, wealth. If he makes a "reasonable" choice, he loses the love of his life. Edith Wharton traces some forty years in the life of Newland Archer, a wealthy New York lawyer: how he vacillates, doubts, suffers, and how he ultimately lets circumstances decide his life. In the process, she discusses opposing positions: for example, that love and passion can be dangerous force ...