"The future depended on marriage. Marriage meant you had a plan." What do you think of this statement? Do you agree it was true at the time? How much has this changed in today’s United States?

Cal and Ana discuss their futures (p. 110), and Ana concludes, "The future depended on marriage. Marriage meant you had a plan." What do you think of this statement? Do you agree it was true at the time? How much has this changed in today’s United States?

It may have been true at the time, although however you look at it marriage is not a plan, per se. Thankfully this social attitude has changed drastically in today's United States. Marriage as with any contractual agreement is upheld only if the parties can agree on its validity and importance.

The future depended on marriage. Marriage meant you had a plan. I do believe it was what women thought at the time. That idea certainly has changed. Women are more independent and have been for many years. I married at 21, divorced at 32. I raised my two boys and had a successful career as a librarian. Yes I had a plan and it did not involve being married!

Yes, times have changed, but even in the 1950s, marriage in our country meant the woman was the home maker. I was the only person in my group of friends who had a mother that worked. When I continued to work when I had children, I was often frowned upon.

That marriage had to be a part of a woman's plan at that point in history is what women believed because that is what society supported - not necessarily what the women wanted. If a woman did not marry at a proper young age, she was not looked upon kindly and/or often not accepted in society. Thank goodness the norm has shifted so that in today's society a woman may choose to live alone and raise a child alone if she so chooses - all while pursuing a career that will support her and her family. it has certainly taken a long while for these sorts of choices to be accepted, and now even men, in addition to women, are being offered paternity leave with compensation. we still have a way to go for women to be completely equal to men in business and industry, but more and more women - married women with children - are achieving success in a variety of careers.

For a woman during that time period it was marriage as women had few rights to be successful on their own. Its a lot different now. thank goodness.

Marriage was part of the plan for women until the 1960s because woman's place was in the home though some worked. Just a side note many companies did not allow married women to work until even later. Times changed and now common for women to support themselves and live independently which is great because women have and continue to make important contributions to society in many areas.

If one were to make a timeline of marital norms from the mid fifteen hundreds until today, one would note that once changes began they occurred quickly. As Carrie mentions above, marriage was the "plan" until roughly the 60s. Women in the workplace changed with the war, but teaching and nursing were still the primary entry into careers. More equal pay for similar work has also allowed women to earn enough money to support themselves.
Ana must have been paid for her library work to support herself. She also had the house she and Owen owned and could buy her parents home. She didn't seem to consider marriage as the "plan" any longer. Was marriage really all about finances?

I think this statement was true at the time of this book's setting. Marriage offered women the potential for moving up in social status, as well as living a more comfortable lifestyle than that of how they'd grown up. At a minimum, marriage meant that women would be "provide for," since they were not allowed the opportunities and privileges to provide for themselves. In the 1800s, both women and their children were considered the property of their husbands. Today, the landscape has changed. Women are able to work and provide for themselves and their children, if they want. Additionally, if women choose not to marry, or to divorce, it is no longer thought to be taboo. While inequalities still exist, the financial and social landscape for women has come a long way since the historical setting o this book.

At the time, marriage was certainly a woman's best path to success. Unmarried women were often seen as a burden and as "old maids."
Fortunately, this attitude has changed a great deal. Women are much more free to create their own lives and live independently, largely because they can have careers.

Marriage was the plan for most women at that time. I was born in 1943 and I was a good student who wanted to go to college. My father was "old school" & said "You don't need college, just get married and have a family." That was the goal of many of my classmates who married young. Times have changed and women can have careers and families, or just careers if that is their wish. Thanks to my mother's support, I did go to college and had a good career. But my great love was my family.

One can plan, and I think in the 1880s marriage itself was much more of a given than it is today. After marriage, however, plans could easily change then as they can now, and not necessarily by choice. War interferes, as it did for Ana. Life events cannot be predicted: “we plan, God laughs” (was it Woody Allen who said that). Marriage might have been what people depended on for stability back then, but it isn’t now.