Although its lovers are frustrated at every turn, The Age of Innocence is, without a doubt, Wharton's most romantic novel. The first half of the novel, especially, despite its heavy romanticism, contains much subtle humor, for even as Wharton contrasts, she parodies the society in which she, herself, grew up. The opening chapters are filled with subtle wit, and some of the secondary characters are more like caricatures, chiefly, Mrs. Manson Mingott: