How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Title.Paragraph)
Quote #7
Lord, what a mess of trouble she was in. Chester had put her in the family way and she needed him to marry her, but he didn't seem to want to. Not if she had to plead with him to come for her, not if he barely wrote to her, and when he did, told her about other girls he was taking around. (28.12)
Sexual activity outside of marriage is just that in this era: a mess of trouble. More trouble for the woman than the man, though, because so much value is placed on women's sexuality, virginity, and purity before marriage—and marriage is so often connected to women's financial security. Clearly Grace wants marriage and Chester doesn't. What might Mattie think about her own impending marriage to Royal now that she knows the context for Grace's letters to Chester?
Quote #8
Why hadn't Jane Austen married? Or Emily Bronte? Or Louisa May Alcott? Was it because no one wanted bookish girls, like my aunt Josie said? Mary Shelley married and Edith Wharton, too, but Miss Wilcox said both marriages were disasters. And then, of course, there was Miss Wilcox herself, with her thin-lipped bully of a husband. (33.gravid.12)
Is it true that no one wants bookish girls? Or does bookish connote something else, something of dreams, independence, and autonomy? And why might the men in Mattie's society want bookish girls if they have these characteristics? There's also the idea that marriage can be a "disaster," especially for the women involved. Mattie's slowly realizing what sacrifices women make for marriage—not just the physical sacrifice, but emotional and psychological sacrifices too.
Quote #9
As I quickly patted my hair back into place, it hit me: Emily Dickinson was a damned sneaky genius.
Holing up in her father's house, never marrying, becoming a recluse—that had sounded like giving up to me, but the more I thought about it, the more it seemed she fought by not fighting. And knowing her poems as I do, I would not put such underhanded behavior past her. Oh, maybe she was lonely at times, and cowed by her pa, but I bet at midnight, when the lights were out and her father was asleep, she went sliding down the banister and swinging from the chandelier. I bet she was just dizzy with freedom. (33.gravid.44-45)
Mattie has just finished visiting Minnie, who is overwhelmed by the duties thrust upon her by marriage and motherhood, and thinking about Emily Dickinson. Mattie recognizes that marriage can bring great joy, she also sees that marriage is incredibly confining and limiting. Minnie is no longer the girl she was when the two friends were growing up; it seems as if she's sacrificed that part of herself to create a marriage with Jim.