Afi Ruel And the character study of the Gilded Age characters continues. Two characters who are most interesting to me are Ada and Marian Brook. As of now, I feel they’re two sides of the same coin in that one represents older or younger version of the same woman: one who shows what it is like when women have no options other than the limitations they are assigned simply by being a woman. Ada is older and mature. Despite being sheltered by the comforts of living under her sister’s wealthy rule, she still has managed to learn some harsh truths about life. I like her. And I feel compassion for her character. She seems to be stuck between needing the security that her sister can provide her (as she never married and has no access to financial resources of her own), and wanting to steer Marian away from the same fate. Yet, her advice to Marian is limited as she seems to be somewhat in denial about the true nature of the men in their lives: past, present and future.
Marian, however, is unfortunate. I remember what it was like to be young and arrogant. I remember what it was like to feel like I had everything all figured out…only to discover that I totally missed the mark and that I looked foolish in the aftermath of my choices. Yet, Marian exhausts me. She won’t listen to reason in the face of overwhelming evidence. Her father left her in the same condition he left his sisters (her aunts): destitute with nowhere to go. Raikes is suspicious, but Marian doesn’t have the wherewithal to wait him out while pursuing other means of having the life she really wants. To be fair, Aunt Agnes has a great deal to do with this as she won’t allow her to work or seek out connections with the other people of her class within close proximity. Yet, while Marian can figure out how to defy her aunt, she can’t seem to figure out how to have what she really wants in life: freedom like Peggy.
These two women have no options. And while I can’t say what I would or wouldn’t have done in someone else’s shoes when I’ve never walked in them…I will say that a woman with no access to the privilege they are afforded managed to make moves to improve her station in life – independently. You may not have any options. But perhaps when you don’t have options you can choose to create them. When it seems like you have no options, you can still choose to not accept that. You can choose to create options. I know that’s easier said than done in many cases, but where there’s a will there’s a way. And if there is no way, you make one.
What did you think about Ada and Marian? When women have no options, what do you think they should do?
