The Age of Innocence centers on an upper-class couple's impending marriage; and the introduction of a woman plagued by scandal whose presence threatens their happiness. Though the novel questions the assumptions and morals of 1870s' New York society; it never devolves into an outright condemnation of the institution. The novel is lauded for its accurate portrayal of how the 19th-century East Coast American upper class lived; and this; combined with the social tragedy; earned Wharton a Pulitzer Prize ¿ the first Pulitzer awarded to a woman.