Adeline's agnecy?

Throughout this course we have looked at the agency, or really, the lack thereof, of our female characters. And a woman’s agency seems to always be tied to the pursuit of marriage, or confinement within it. In Adeline Mowbray, Opie shows a woman, who in an attempt to retain her individual agency and independence rejects the institution of marriage and chooses to live her romantic life beyond social constructs. At first, I loved it, especially in comparison to some of the other women we have read; Adeline was blowing of societal expectations, and it was awesome. This, of course, was ephemeral, because society fought back tenfold. From the very first moment Adeline professed her opposition to marriage she got into trouble. Sir Patrick tried to take advantage of her, and her mother and Glenmurray were appalled at her seriousness in proclaiming she would never marry. Then, when she actually goes for it, and lives with Glenmurray, everything falls apart. Lady O'Carol rejects her, men disrespect her, and she is generally ostracized from society. In her attempt to assert her own agency, and avoid the institution that seems to limit it, she is still held prostrate by society. I found it so sad, and Opie's message is almost hopeless; if a woman like Adeline tried to get some degree of agency, she got even less.