Both
of these pieces look at different aspects of marriage during the time
period. Emma Goldman and Edith Wharton
have similar views on American marriage and its faults. In Wharton’s article, she compares American
women to Frenchwomen. Their views tie in
with what we’ve seen within The Age of
Innocence.
“Marriage and Love”
Emma
Goldman discusses her beliefs on marriage and love. Marriage at this time was an economic
arrangement based on capitalism since money was one of the most important things. The women paid for marriage with their
self-respect, privacy, and their name. Goldman
compared women to a parasite because they became completely dependent on their
husbands. For men, their only stress was
economic stress, while the women took care of their home and family. She discusses how marriage protected
children, yet there were thousands of homeless and orphaned children. In addition, she talks about how marriage and
love had nothing to do with one another.
With that, she believes that love is stronger than marriage and that if love
continues in married life, it is regardless of marriage. She believes that love rarely ever comes from
being married first. Also, she talks
about how a young girl’s main goal was to get married when she grew up. “From infancy, almost, the average girl is
told that marriage is her ultimate goal; therefore her training and education
must be directed towards that end” (Pg. 383).
“The New Frenchwoman”
Edith
Wharton introduces her idea of the Frenchwoman and how the new Frenchwoman is
only new because American women were not familiar with them. The Frenchwoman is seen as more grown-up, not
only because of her dress, ability to cook, and femininity, but because of her
relationship with men. For example,
women are book-keepers or clerks in their husband’s small business. She also contrasts the Frenchwoman with the
American woman. The Frenchwoman would
rather be happy than have money, while American women want money. Although American women legally have more
freedom, Frenchwomen live more freely.
This is due to the fact that women in America feel trapped in their
marriage since it is simply an economic arrangement, while French women married
for love and are altogether happier.
Frenchwomen have more of an impact in their French society than American
women do in their lives.
Comparison:
The
average French woman was more advanced because they had a different sense of
marriage. In America, women had more
legal rights, but their marriage held them back from exercising them. Their husbands had the ultimate control. In France where women did not marry solely
for monetary reasons, they had more freedom because they were equal partners
with their husbands. American women are
trapped at home where they are not valued but French women can have an impact
in society. The differences between
French women and American women can also be seen in The Age of Innocence. May is
like the typical American women; she is used to the husband being the dominant
person in the relationship, and she is educated on the rules of society and
housekeeping. Ellen is more like the
typical French woman; she knows more about art and culture than the rules of
society and she treats men more like equals.
Discussion Questions:
1. Goldman states, “Marriage
and love have nothing in common; they are as far apart as the poles; are, in
fact, antagonistic to each other.” Compare Goldman’s view of marriage with
marriage today? Does her view of marriage and love fit with what we read in The Age of Innocence? If so in what
ways?
2. Who do you think Goldman
intended her audience to be? What do you think their response was?
3. In Goldman’s article, we
once again see a difference in the standards for men and women, this time
involving marriage. What are some ways marriages impacted women differently
than men? How is this illustrated in The
Age of Innocence?
4. Which do you think is more
successful: marriage for love or marriage for money? Reference the statistics
Goldman gives in her article on marriage (pg. 182).
5. Wharton brings up the idea
of French women being more grown up than their American counterparts. What does
she mean by “grown-up”? In what ways does she illustrate this in her article?
6. In Wharton’s article, what
do you find to be the most interesting difference she states between the
Frenchwoman and the American woman?
7. Do you think that
differences in marriage practices in societies affect the treatment of women in
those societies? Consider both articles.
8. How do both articles relate?
Is perhaps the lack of love in American marriages that Goldman asserts a cause
for the differences between women in the different societies that Wharton
highlighted?
