Attitude towards marriage and divorce in the 19th century

• • Marriage was the only way to be admitted to the long-established high society family circle

  • A marriage could help women from a lower class to become part of the higher class

  • A wife who lived according to the society’s conventions afforded the husband the opportunity to present his wealth

  • For a long time, the American elite considered divorce a taboo. All the prior intimates saw a divorced woman as a castoff and a fallen woman

  • Due to economic changes in this century, the attitude towards marriage and divorce has changed considerably. Divorces and remarriages started to occur more often without the woman having to be afraid of a sequestration from society

  • The new generation, which was guided by different values, ended up having a higher divorce rate because wealth and fortune tempted more than pedigree and Tradition

Resources:

Kornetta, Reiner. Das Korsett im Kopf: Ehe und Ökonomie in den Kurzgeschichten Edith Whartons. Frankfurt am Main, New York: P. Lang, 1996. Print. Düsseldorfer Beiträge aus Anglistik und Amerikanistik Bd. 4.

McDowell, Margaret B. Edith Wharton. Rev. ed. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1990 [i.e. c1991. Print. Twayne's United States authors series TUSAS 265.