How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Title.Paragraph)
Quote #7
My eyes latch on to one line again: "I said no so many times, dear"...and then I gasp out loud, because I have said no a few times myself, dear, and I finally understand why Grace was so upset: She was carrying a baby—Chester Gillette's baby. That's why she had to give up her position and go home. That's why she was so desperate for him to come and take her away. Before her belly got big and the whole world found out. (24.32)
Out-of-wedlock pregnancy was not all that uncommon during the turn of the century, but there was a big social stigma tied to it anyway. Grace doesn't have control or power in this situation; either Chester marries her and saves her reputation, because she surely can't save it herself, or he doesn't marry her and she is ruined socially.
This may not seem like a big deal, but a lot of value was placed on women's virtue (i.e. virginity) and to give it up outside of marriage would not improve a woman's social standing. And for a lot of women, this mean a life of certain poverty.
Quote #8
"I know you do. I hate them, too. Sometimes. I do." Her voice had dropped to a whisper. Her eyes were tormented.
"You hush right now! You don't mean that!"
"I do mean it. I wish I'd never had them. I wish I'd never gotten married." The babies struggled and howled against her. She sat down on the bed, opened her blouse, and grimaced as they latched on to her. (33.gravid.35-37)
Here we see another place where the reality of womanhood is much different from what Mattie originally thought of womanhood. Minnie's life is hard. She's got twins, and she's going through some post-partum depression. She can't fulfill her role as a woman (cooking, cleaning, sexually satisfying her husband) because of her new responsibilities as a mother, which is also part of being a woman, and her life is just overwhelming.
Quote #9
I knew then why they didn't marry. Emily and Jane and Louisa. I knew and it scared me. I also knew what being lonely was and I didn't want to be lonely my whole life. I didn't want to give up my words. I didn't want to choose one over the other. Mark Twain didn't have to. Charles Dickens didn't. And John Milton didn't, either, though he might have made life easier for untold generations of schoolkids if he had. (33.gravid.47)
Mattie leaves Minnie's house with a greater understanding of the reality of what it means to be a woman in her community. And she doesn't want it. She recognizes the double standard in gender treatment, but she's not sure if she's ready to give up a life with Royal for a life of writing. We have to wonder if she can have both, and then we realize that it doesn't matter what we think—it only matters what she thinks.