Marriage is defined, in the Post-Civil War Era, as a relationship in which two people have pledged themselves to each other in the manner of a husband and wife. During the Post-Civil War Era wives did not disobey their husbands and they did not complain to, or nag their husbands, and they certainly didn’t take matters into their own hands, like in today’s society. In “The Revolt of Mother” Sarah Penn does take matters into her own hands. Mrs. Penn decided that all of the hands she was dealt could be changed to give her what she wanted: a new house. There were many factors that led to the revolt that gave her what she wanted.
The first factor to her revolt was a promise, which was made by her husband. A promise between a husband and wife didn’t …show more content…
Nanny is planning to marry to a man named, George Eastman. During this time period, when two people wanted to get married, they got married in the women’s parent’s parlor. The Penn’s old house does not have parlor so Mrs. Penn worries that Nanny will become an outcast because she won’t be married in a parlor. She says to her husband that the kitchen “is all the room that Nanny‘s got to have her company in.” (page 233). She also tells her husband “it’s all the room she’ll have to get married in. What would you have thought, father, if we had had our weddin’ in a room no better than this? I was married in my mother’s parlor, with a carpet on the floor an’ stuffed furniture, an’ a mahogany card table.” (page 233). She is disappointed that her husband doesn’t care what will become of her daughter if she isn’t married in a parlor, which adds to her anger and desperation to get her new house.
The fifth factor the led to Sarah Penn’s revolt was that she thought God was giving her a chance to get what she wants. When her husband receives a letter form Mrs. Penn’s brother about a good horse, she sees this as divine intervention. This divine intervention is a symbol for the free will she had, which women of this time period didn’t think they had. With this fifth factor she began her
The first factor to her revolt was a promise, which was made by her husband. A promise between a husband and wife didn’t …show more content…
Nanny is planning to marry to a man named, George Eastman. During this time period, when two people wanted to get married, they got married in the women’s parent’s parlor. The Penn’s old house does not have parlor so Mrs. Penn worries that Nanny will become an outcast because she won’t be married in a parlor. She says to her husband that the kitchen “is all the room that Nanny‘s got to have her company in.” (page 233). She also tells her husband “it’s all the room she’ll have to get married in. What would you have thought, father, if we had had our weddin’ in a room no better than this? I was married in my mother’s parlor, with a carpet on the floor an’ stuffed furniture, an’ a mahogany card table.” (page 233). She is disappointed that her husband doesn’t care what will become of her daughter if she isn’t married in a parlor, which adds to her anger and desperation to get her new house.
The fifth factor the led to Sarah Penn’s revolt was that she thought God was giving her a chance to get what she wants. When her husband receives a letter form Mrs. Penn’s brother about a good horse, she sees this as divine intervention. This divine intervention is a symbol for the free will she had, which women of this time period didn’t think they had. With this fifth factor she began her