Even though the book is set two centuries ago it's easy to identify with the characters. Why do you think that is?

Although the book is set in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, it is easy to identify with the characters. Why do you think that is?

I'm not sure that statement is true. Although I know I am supposed to say it is easy to identify with these characters, that is only partly the truth. I actually can't identify wth a woman (Ruth) who was neglected and mistreated as a child and then learned to fight in a boxing ring because she was an accomplished fighter. However, I can identify with her fighting spirit to try to better herself and her desire to make a decent living doing work that she enjoys (teaching other people the science of boxing).
I also can't trully identify with pathetic Charlotte who was constantly verbally abused by her brother and had her face spoiled with pox mark. She was so beat down psychologically that it is difficult to put myself in her skirts. However I can relate to her efforts to fight back against oppression and become a woman that helps others and thus helps herself.

I agree, I am not sure that it is easy to identify with the characters. The situations they are in seem so far from today's life- they have human emotions, but their struggles with class and gendered expectations do not make it easy to identify with them.

I also find it difficult to identify with these characters. I know today there are still women who have nothing and do not have a proper family life. So this has not changed in 200 years. This does not say much about our society. We should have been able to improve on this. Women in Charlotte's c lass do have more choices. They are no longer subject to their husbands and have control of their money. Women' rights have improved some in this way.

Because of our skillful author and her fully drawn and likeable characters, I appreciate Charlotte's successful journey toward personal growth. Women can still struggle with these issues today even though the circumstances are quite different.

I think that women have more opportunities today than at that time. For sure we do not have to be married to inherit wealth or must depend on a man. However, I think that there is still some struggle within the class systems and I can see how if one is born into a certain class it may be difficult to break out of that situation. For example, we still have women who are prostitutes and they still have kids. I can see how hard it would be to rise above that and lose the stigma. I think that there are still women who look to marry well to change there social situation or are looking for a "sugar daddy" quite similar to that of Ruth's sister. Overall, it is exactly the same no but kind of close.

We as women have come a long way when it comes to fairness but I believe we still need to fight for what we want and believe in. If we are to give up on the fight than all the women that worked hard to get to where we are today will just be for nothing. We need to make sure that all the women before us did not do it for nothing.

The characters have the same struggles as all "characters" do in real life. We are not always dealt with a good hand. What we do with the hand is defined as the courage it takes to change our lives.