Both Uses of
observance
in
The Age of Innocence
- Winsett himself had a savage abhorrence of social observances: Archer, who dressed in the evening because he thought it cleaner and more comfortable to do so, and who had never stopped to consider that cleanliness and comfort are two of the costliest items in a modest budget, regarded Winsett's attitude as part of the boring "Bohemian" pose that always made fashionable people, who changed their clothes without talking about it, and were not forever harping on the number of servants oneā¦†
Chpt 14
- There was something about the luxury of the Welland house and the density of the Welland atmosphere, so charged with minute observances and exactions, that always stole into his system like a narcotic.†
Chpt 21 *
Definition:
-
(observance) conformity with law or custom or practice
or:
taking part in a ritual -- such as celebrating a holiday