Though many women's articles focused on issues of work, wages and voting, many also focused on what was still generally considered a woman's primary role: marriage. Articles abounded on how to find a husband, be a good wife, deal with marriage difficulties - and, of course, on why being a wife and mother was the most important job for a woman. Many felt this was a woman's divinely appointed role, and anything else was little short of blasphemy. However, this section also offers a handful of articles on that rarity, the happy single woman!

On Indiscreet Marriages, by Louisa Bell (Cassell's Family Paper, 1860)

Advice on avoiding imprudent, improvident, and inexperienced (i.e., "too young") marriages, with tips on how to make a marriage happy.

A Whisper to a Newly Married Pair (Godey's, 1860)

This series focuses entirely on advice to the husband (one supposes advice to the new wife was in another volume).

What Is an Old Maid? (Godey's, 1867)

Women, Many and Various: The Belles and the Wallflowers, by Caroline A. Merigli (Demorest, 1872)

An argument that wallflowers are more likely to marry well than belles!

Girls' Ideals, by Caroline A. Merigli (Demorest, 1873)

Dispelling some romantic notions young ladies might have about marriage.

A Word About Husbands (Demorest, 1874)

"How many mourning husbands... might write her epitaph, I caused her death 'by my unkindness'..."

Six Weeks After Marriage (Demorest, 1879)

A Neglected Study (Girl's Own Paper, 1880)

Tips on what one should be learning in that all-so-important "interval" between leaving school and entering married life!

Are Early Marriages Unthrifty? (Reader debate) (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1882)

The Four Periods [of a Girl's Life], by Alice King (Girl's Own Paper, 1882)

School-life, maidenhood, womanhood and motherhood...

The Increase of Divorce (Century Magazine, 1882A)

Some statistics on divorce in various US states, as well as other countries.

The Duties of Wives and Mothers, by S.F.A. Caulfeild (Girl's Own Paper, 1885)

"As so very large a proportion of women are destined to remain single...it is well to regard marriage as a mere possibility rather than as a certainty... Banish the impression that a single woman need be a despised, aimless, joyless being, regarded as 'superfluous' in society." Nevertheless, the author notes, it seems to be the "supreme end in life" of the majority of women to be married, and the article goes on to provide a host of tips for the would-be wife and mother.

A Cage-Making Wife by Emma Brewer (Girl's Own Paper, 1886)

Based on Swift's comment that "the reason why so few marriages are happy, is because young women spend their time in making nets, not in making cages" -- and how to make a happy, comfortable "cage" for one's husband.

A Wise Letter (Girl's Own Paper, 1887)

A commentary on a letter of Dean Jonathan Swift on the role of women in marriage.

A Talk About a Good Wife, by E. Ormond Payne (Girl's Own Paper, 1888)

"Women have certainly made men brutes and devils, but they have also made--thank God, they are always making--bad men good men, good men heroes, and heroes saints."

[Women] A Center of Order (Ingalls' Home Magazine, 1888)

Women's Influence (Ingalls' Home Magazine, 1888)

The Choice Matrimonial (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1889)

Tips on choosing a wife.

Our Girls Wedded, by J. Rogers Rees (Girl's Own Paper, 1890)

"The ideal which the wife and mother makes for herself, the manner in which she understands duty and life, contain the fate of the community. Woman is the salvation or destruction of the family. She carries its destinies in the folds of her mantle."

Professional Mens' Wives (Girl's Own Paper, 1890)

"Girls and women are fond of speculating what profession they would have entered if they had belonged to the other sex.... Well, young ladies, you cannot directly fill these positions, but you can do so indirectly, in a way that is quite as honourable and not less influential. You may marry, and have in your hands the moulding of the careers of men who are clergymen, lawyers, doctors, officers, and such like."

Our Brothers - In Training for Husbands (Girl's Own Paper, 1892)

Though not precisely about women, this article does explore how women can shape the husbands of tomorrow...

Whispers to Our Wedded Girls, by a Middle-Aged Woman (Girl's Own Paper, 1892)

Tips on being a good and helpful wife.

Why Young Men Defer Marriage, by John Lambert Payne (Ladies' Home Journal, 1892)

The conclusion is that young men are too interested in pursuing luxuries to be willing to undertake the financial sacrifices of marriage.

"Common-Place" Girls, by A.B. Romney (Girl's Own Paper, 1893)

An interesting piece on the dangers of being the sort of girl who simply waits to get married, without taking charge of her life, concluding: "Determine to make your own opportunities instead of waiting for them; to mould your own life instead of drifting with circumstances..."

Some Marriage Thorns, and How to Avoid Them, by the Countess de Boerio (Girl's Own Paper, 1893)

"Alas! Women are frequently so capricious, so exacting, so tactless in their treatment of the man they have married that they drive him into ways and habits which, although in themselves wrong, are in reality the outcome of the wife's conduct."

The Ideal Daughter, by the Rev. C.H. Grundy (Girl's Own Paper, 1894)

Though overall a fairly routine treatment of "how to be a good girl," this article also recognizes that marriage is no longer a sure outcome in life. "Let me protest against the idea that a girl's aim in life is to be 'matrimony at all risks.' A miserable marriage is the most miserable of all things, while many unmarried women are thoroughly happy and contented."

Marriage Is Not a Lottery (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1894)

"If marriage be a lottery it is only in the sense that marriages are made in heaven."

"The Pattern Wife," by the Rev. C.H. Grundy (Girl's Own Paper, 1894)

Again, a fairly routine article with surprises, such as "She will not sink her own individuality because of her love. Her judgment must be founded on reason. She will be ready to be convinced by argument, but the sincerity of her character will not permit her to pretend to be convinced, merely for the sake of peace. It is very hard to be obliged to differ from those we love, but at times it is our duty. A wife who dare not state her firm conviction is not doing her duty to her husband."

Flirts and Flirting (Girl's Own Paper, 1895)

Needless to say, it is not encouraged!

The Marriage Rate of College Women, by Milicent Washburn Shinn (Century Magazine, 1895B)

Here's one thing that hasn't changed: Statistics showed in 1895 that the rate of marriage for college-educated women was far lower than for their non-educated peers. As one woman explained, college women also want to "look up" to their husbands, but "the more we know, the harder it is to find somebody to meet the want."

Man and Woman (Girl's Own Paper, 1896)

A short French article from 1748 (translated, of course).

Men as Lovers [From a Girl's Standpoint], by Lilian Bell (Ladies Home Journal, 1896)

"Men seldom make good lovers. I deeply regret being obliged to say this, as they are about all we girls have to depend upon in that line, but it's the solemn truth... I suppose it is because they are just men, and a man never dwells upon sentimental side of life, nor understands the emotions, unless he is either a poet or a Miss Nancy; and it's almost equally dangerous to marry either of those."

Woman's Rights in Love [From a Girl's Standpoint], by Lilian Bell (Ladies Home Journal, 1896)

"Doesn't it seem as if the men had all the rights on their side? In order to make ourselves desirable we are not to be forward nor unduly prominent. We are to sit at home and wait to be asked. We are not to take a man's words uttered under the magnetism of our presence for truth. We are not to judge by his manner if he does not speak. We are not to encourage any other men when one man is considering us as a possible wife (although we don't know that he is, and it is dangerous to guess), because he does not like that."

A Woman's [Statistical] Chance of Marriage, by J. Holt Schooling (The Strand, 1898A)

The Art of Bringing Up Lovers, by M.H. Cornwall Legh (Girl's Own Paper, 1901)

Basically, how to attract and keep a man!

Our Brothers and Sisters (Girl's Own Paper, 1901)

An article suggesting that boys should perhaps begin taking their fair share of the household load!

Our Husbands (Girl's Own Paper, 1901)

"Husbands need more art to bring up than mothers, children, brothers, sisters, and lovers put together; and it is important for every young woman, directly she becomes engaged, to set herself to master that art."

The Good Wife (Girl's Own Paper, 1902)

The "good wife... commandeth... by obeying," ensures that her husband does not make a fool of himself, orders her household smoothly, makes sure that her daughters are capable of earning a living, and generally keeps her husband "in shape by pruning."

The Single Woman

The Single Life (Girl's Own Paper, 1882)

"We should be doing at once very foolishly and very wrong if we did not educate our girls in such a manner that they may be able, if needful, to lead single lives, contentedly, bravely, and for the good of others, and their heavenly Master's glory.... We mean the resolute crusade which all of us... should make against the notion and the feeling that to remain single is, in the remotest degree, a disgrace to a woman."

How to Be Happy, Though Single (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1887)

Some Happy Spinsters (Girl's Own Paper, 1892)

A look at the achievements of a number of well-known, unmarried women, including Anna Sewell (author of Black Beauty).

"Common-Place" Girls, by A.B. Romney (Girl's Own Paper, 1893)

An interesting piece on the dangers of being the sort of girl who simply waits to get married, without taking charge of her life, concluding: "Determine to make your own opportunities instead of waiting for them; to mould your own life instead of drifting with circumstances..."