The Shortfalls Of Marriage In Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace

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Recommended: Women's rights during the Victorian era

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. Evidently, 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. Within Margaret Atwood 's "Alias Grace," the shortfalls of marriage faced by the fictional women accurately represent the actual social issues of Ontario during the 1800 's. Nancy Montgomery, a servant to Mr. Kinnear, has affairs with him in hopes of being married for economic gain, but only ends up being manipulated by him. "Women could not inherit property and their social standing was primarily determined through marriage," (Little). Under these circumstances, women within nineteenth century Ontario were forced to use marriage as a method for economic and social gain, as they had to indirectly obtain wealth through their husbands. Ultimately, this means that women need to entice men to marry them, which could potentially lead to abuse of the unbalanced relationships by men. "Which of the servants, Mr. Kinnear wanted to know; and Nancy said both of them, and Mr. Kinnear laughed and said of course …show more content…

As a result, nineteenth marriage forced women to be completely dependent and compliant with the husband 's as they held all the means of sustenance, and if deserted by the husband, they were often left with very meagre means of sustenance. Subsequently, as the shortfalls of marriage became apparent, many activists through the nineteenth century and onwards have supported reform of the institution of marriage, and the empowerment of women, which allows us to move towards an egalitarian

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