"The point is... marriage is stupid."

"The point is... marriage is stupid."~Barney Stinson, How I Met Your Mother, 4x04(I was just watching HIMYM reruns!)

For both Mrs. Geraldine Verney and Mr. Erasmus Bethel, marriage brought trouble. Because their marriages became unmitigated disasters only after tying the knot, the wronged party’s power/agency is worth a look.

Mrs. Verney's husband is a womanizin', gamblin' lout who only becomes nastier in Volume II. I'm not sure if people knew about Mr. Verney's character before the wedding but her inability to divorce him or even avoid his marital affections (she's pregnant!) is abhorrent. Geraldine must be somewhat representative of Charlotte Smith herself, who married a good-for-nothing and had to write to feed her family. Mrs. Verney’s lack of both agency and choices (no male protectors, her mother doesn't care, etc.) makes me really interested in how her story ends – can it be read as wishful thinking by Smith?

Mr. Bethel’s relationship with Louisa Bethel went south after she was corrupted by newfound vanity in London, but the moral husband is just as permanently saddled with a bad apple spouse as is a long-suffering wife like Geraldine. Mr. Bethel can fight duels or “negociate an accommodation,” (Vol I, Let. IV) but his power to compel his wife to be faithful is stolen by Louisa running away. How interesting that Mrs. Bethel is in this case the one that “wins” while her husband retreats to his Stamford estate.

Further thought: marriage/downtrodden sans culottes, domestic/political oppression comparison?