Lucy and Marriage

For many young females during Lucy’s time period, marriage is not an option, but an obligation. In a sense, a young woman is only as good as her husband. Only through marriage is she able to be a member of society. In finding a husband, she has to take his family lineage, financial situation, and social status into consideration. Love was a bonus, not a priority. In Lucy’s dilemma, she is caught between marrying for love and marrying for convenience. If she marries Cecil, she will be marrying someone from her social class, she will be financially secure, and she will be preserving the already wavering traditions of her society. If she marries George, she will be betraying her family and the people of her social class. Her future will be unclear, but she will be an equal partner in the union. She will be allowed to think and make decisions for herself. Breaking off her engagement with Cecil and deciding to be with George was probably the first major decision that she has ever made on her own. Lucy went from a girl who followed conventions and did what was expected of her to someone who followed her heart and started living her life.