The Role Of Marriage In Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace

Marriage Within "Alias Grace" and the 19th Century Within the nineteenth century, women lacked many rights; specifically, the rights that protect them as individuals and the rights that allowed them to live by their own means. Women were often identified as "second class citizens," as they were often viewed as inferior to men both physically and mentally. Evidently reflective of those views, the promise of marriage was used to manipulate women, marriage also took away the self sustenance of women, and when separated from their husbands, women resorted to some form of prostitution to survive. Thus, within Margaret Atwood 's "Alias Grace," the shortfalls of marriage faced by the fictional women accurately represent the actual social issues of

Humphrey 's marriage ultimately made her vulnerable to the potential of her husband deserting, as through marriage, she relinquished her own material wealth to her husband and did not possess the skills that are required for her own self-sustenance. "... Once married, their property rights reverted to their husbands," ("Women 's Rights"). Under these circumstances, women within nineteenth century Ontario often devoted themselves to their husband for the rest of their lives, as the husbands provided all the means of sustenance for the whole family. As a result, women were very unlikely to abandon their husbands, yet the opposite was more common. "Women were expected to raise children, look after their homes, [etc.] ..." ("Women 's Rights"). Thus, as men were responsible for providing basic needs for the family, women were often given the secondary roles in ensuring the comfort of the family, especially their husband. Specifically, wives obtain skills that only supplement their husbands, which ultimately, becomes worthless by itself. “... And if they were to lose all their money tomorrow, they would not even be able to make a living by honest whoring ..." (Atwood 182). Within the passage, Mary Whitney, Grace 's late friend, refers to the "domesticated" upper-class women 's inability to provide for themselves and only able to provide comfort for the husband and the family. Consequently, as those women have been sheltered for most, if not their entire lives they become incapable of even prostitution, which is apparent in the case of Ms. Humphrey. Arguably, the case of Ms. Humphrey is that she was exploited by her husband, then abandoned when her husband did not want her anymore. Ultimately, society 's idealized role for women within a family, created a lasting effect that forced women to be completely dependent on their husbands in order to