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Like Brief Encounter, The Age of Innocence is the story of an affair that doesn't happen. Socially prominent Newland Archer (Daniel Day Lewis) becomes infatuated with Countess Ellen Olenska (Michelle Pfeiffer), the cousin of his fiancee, May (Winona Ryder), in 19th-century New York. Disregarding his feelings, he proceeds with his marriage and urges Ellen not to divorce the husband she left in Europe. Trapped by the fear of scandal and the shame of adultery, Newland and Ellen survive on the limited comforts of chance encounters and suffer the frustration of missed opportunities. While a modern audience might simply ask, “What are they waiting for? Why don't they just make love?” The Age of Innocence is not about what people