How do you imagine Christina's life would have been if Walton had married her?

How do you imagine Christina's life would have been if Walton had married her?

I certainly carried that thought long after the cover was closed and the story completed. The story dialogue was of course imagined but I wanted it to be as written. This story was so well conceived and told in wonderful prose. Would Walton have stuck with her through her degenerative loss of movements? Or was Walton's true love always Christina only to obey his family and not look back. I want to think he loved her but was not strong enough or capable of disobeying his family position. Would Christina have become the strong woman she became in order to deal with her life situation? So many unanswered questions but I am willing to let them go as the story was so satisfying and complete as written.

I feel like maybe if Walton had been willing to give up his own life and move to the farm with her, it could have possibly worked. I cannot see her leaving and living elsewhere.

I think Walton could have made a life on the farm. But if Christina had moved to the city her life would have been a constant uphill battle of trying to gain acceptance and understanding, especially when she refused to give in to her disability and remain as independent as possible. The physical abnormalities would have been difficult for the people of that time period to accept. Her only advocate would have been Walton and he proved to be unable to stand up to society’s pressure.

The marriage would not have lasted. Walton's family would never have accepted her-whether they moved to Boston or stayed in Maine. I don't think he could have made it in Maine without them--the harsh weather, the isolation and lack of things to do other than hard work. She could not have managed in Boston--she was uneducated and society would not have accepted her. Love only takes you so far and neither one of them could have survived the rejection.

I think Christina may have dealt with her condition in a different way. I think she would have fought harder to find answers about it if she was with Walton. If Walton's parents had accepted her she would have been okay and Walton would have continued to love her. I do think he truly loved her. I don't think Walton could have dealt with how disabled she did become if he couldn't continue to live within his current lifestyle. If he had come to live with Christina and forsake his life he would have become cruel and hateful toward her.

I so agree with katherinep, I do not think Walton could have survived life on the farm. He loved the summers with her and judged there relationship by what they experienced each summer. It wasn't real, it wasn't reality. They were far too different in their upbringing as well as their personalities to have survived a life long marriage. Sadly, it affected Christina all her life but I think she knew in her heart it would not have worked. She was the realist but nevertheless a sense of bitterness prevailed.

I don't think they would have stayed together. I think as she grew more disabled he would have left her. I think she would have been more bitter if she married him and he left her then she already was. I agree they would not have made it in Boston because of her, Maine would not have worked because of him. It was a impossible relationship but the loss of it affected Christina her whole life. If she had been educated and less stubborn and he had been stronger but those are all what ifs. If she had been less stubborn willing to use a wheel chair and willing to see more then one Dr. If he had been stronger and more willing to stand up to her family. If they could have picked somewhere less rural then her home but not as big as Boston but again these are all what ifs.

Walton would have either left her or as her condition progressed, Christina would have been labeled an invalid and put away in a back room or sent off somewhere. Walton was infatuated with Christina because she was different from other women in his orbit and he thought having a doctor “fix” Christina would make everything right. I don’t think he was prepared for Christina’s not wanting to be fixed.

Their marriage would have never worked. Christina was limited in what she could partake in and his other friends would have led active lives. Walton would have become embarrassed by Christina's disability. Christina lived in a small, focused world and was too independent to adapt to another lifestyle.

She would, initially, have had joy because she actually would have had a life and love of her own. However, the city life and Walton's parents would have made her life impossible if they'd lived there. The best scenario would have been if Walton had moved to Maine, but would he have been happy there? I think the cards were stacked against them.

I think her life would have been even emptier than it was left behind on her isolated farm. Walton is a feckless character who never would have been able to cope with Christina’s increasing disability. Christina would have suffocated in the Society World Walton lived in coddled by his family.

I don't think the marriage would have lasted. I don't think their real worlds had much in common.