Women, Marriage, and Freedom in 18th-Century Fiction

Introduction: Marriage, Love, and Social Structure

The institution of marriage should be viewed as a consummation of love rather than as a social contract providing economic and social stability. Freedom is better sought within the bonds of love, and marriage is better understood as a strengthening relationship rather than a loss of freedom.

The prevailing social structure of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries played a vital role in shaping ideas about marriage. During these periods, a stark gender divide seriously restricted the freedom of women. From the Elizabethan era through the industrial age, women continued to struggle against the influence of a male-dominated society. Literary works by women during these periods consistently reflect this quest for freedom and define the role marriage played in determining women's social status. The following discussion examines women's perceptions of marriage and the extent to which society shaped those perceptions by looking at several novels of manners written during this time.

Marriage as Perceived in The House of Mirth

The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton is an excellent novel of manners that depicts the social values of upper-class American society. The novel clearly portrays marriage as a means of security rather than a union of hearts. It also vividly illustrates class distinctions and their influence on women's marital choices. Lily, the protagonist, is typical of women of that period: she views marriage as a means of ascending the social ladder. Still unmarried at twenty-nine, Lily represents a deeply conflicted woman who remains undecided about marriage, always searching for a better prospect. So consumed is she by the desire to climb socially that she willfully ignores Lawrence Selden, a man she genuinely loves. The sole reason is that Selden is a man of modest means, and marrying him would not satisfy her ambitions. The impact of her social conditioning is captured in Selden's observation: "She was so evidently the victim of the civilization which had produced her, that the links of her bracelet seemed like manacles chaining her to her fate." (pg. 6)

Wharton expertly portrays the consumerist society of America, in which money was the central commodity of life. Women who were regarded as inferior and dominated by men came to see wealth as an important means of overcoming their limitations. Marriage to a wealthy man guaranteed them a position in society. This demonstrates how profoundly the social structure shaped the lives of young women. In short, marriage, money, and status were viewed as synonymous, and women treated marriage as a springboard to social success and security.

The novel also reveals Lily's lack of decisiveness. She is never satisfied with the good proposals she receives and is always looking for something better. This indecision ultimately proves to be her undoing. Blinded by the power of money and the desire for a higher social rank, Lily asks Gus Trenor, the husband of her friend Judy, to invest money on her behalf in the stock market. Her first harsh lesson from this opportunistic society comes when Trenor expects her to repay him by spending time with him. This episode illustrates clearly the insecurities and dangers that an unmarried woman faced in such a society.

Marriage and Security

Lily endures such difficulties largely because she is unmarried — though, to some extent, the situation is of her own making, since she could have accepted any number of respectable marriage proposals. In chapter six, for example, Lily and Selden draw very close to one another, and just as they are about to express their feelings, the sound of a car horn diverts Lily's attention. This moment symbolizes the instability and fickleness of the unmarried woman in New York, drawn away from genuine love by the allure of wealth. Yet fate also plays a role: when Lily is on the verge of pursuing Percy Gryce, a wealthy young man, he announces his engagement to Evie Van Osburgh. One by one, opportunities slip away, and Lily is left isolated and despairing. When her aunt dies and leaves her only $10,000 — the exact amount she owes Trenor — Lily finds herself entirely alone in a society built on false values and prejudice.

Conclusion

Both The House of Mirth and The Coquette are grounded in the theme of feminism. The quest for freedom and social status drives the protagonists of both novels, yet in both cases a blind pursuit of these goals leads to their downfall. In both works, marriage is treated as a social necessity rather than a consummation of love, and the postponement of marriage is seen as a way of prolonging freedom. This raises a critical question: to what degree can freedom safely be pursued in a society corrupted by division, discrimination, and declining moral standards?

The conclusion these novels point toward is that unmarried women are far more exposed to danger in a morally depraved society, and that freedom is better pursued within the defined limits of a marriage founded on genuine love. The tragedies of Lily Bart and Eliza Wharton stand as enduring literary warnings about the cost of confusing social ambition — or the fear of submission — with the deeper human need for love and connection.

Bibliography

Hannah Webster Foster, The Coquette (Oxford University Press, 1986).

Edith Wharton, The House of Mirth, Mass Market Paperback, 2000.