# Sillerton Jackson — The Age of Innocence character guide

> Sillerton Jackson in The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** old Sillerton Jackson, Mr. Sillerton Jackson, old Jackson

**First appearance:** 0001-i

## Snapshot

An elderly clubman and dinner guest who carries the genealogies, scandals, and unspoken verdicts of old New York in his head.

## Who they are

Sillerton Jackson dines at the Archers' not for the food but for the audience, trading anecdotes and weighing evidence that the ladies of the family never question. He is a true eclectic, moving between the Mingott table and the Archer one, and his memory of every family's secrets makes him a kind of living archive of the society's rules. He matters because the world of the novel is largely made of what people like him remember and repeat.

## In the story

### [Book I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_age_of_innocence_se/chapters/book-i)

A social arbiter, present at the opera and commenting on the arrival of Ellen Olenska.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_age_of_innocence_se/chapters/i)

Expert on family lineages and scandals, receives the opera-glass to identify Ellen Olenska.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_age_of_innocence_se/chapters/ii)

Old Sillerton Jackson is mentioned as the authority on family gossip; Archer feels as he does about the Mingotts' bold move.

### [Chapter V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_age_of_innocence_se/chapters/v)

The guest, a connoisseur of gossip, provides details about Ellen Olenska and Mrs. Struthers.

### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_age_of_innocence_se/chapters/vi)

Among the few who accept the Mingotts' invitation; later visits the Archers.

### [Chapter XXVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_age_of_innocence_se/chapters/xxvi)

Listens to the ladies' complaints and later hints to Archer about Beaufort's impending financial scandal and Ellen's refusal of her husband's offer.

### [Chapter XXXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_age_of_innocence_se/chapters/xxxii)

Makes a remark about the lax standards at the Tuileries, implying Ellen's foreign upbringing makes her less particular.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_age_of_innocence_se/characters/sillerton_jackson
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_age_of_innocence_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_age_of_innocence_se/characters