Life After Life Marriage

We see early on Sylvie's tendency to take control (naming the house) and kind of rolling her eyes at her husband. She doesn't seem to have much affection for him at all, but maybe that's just how marriage is back in the early 1900s.

Pamela has a traditional view of marriage, despite being a somewhat more modern thinker. It's incredible how much her marriage mimics her mother's, except Pammy seems to be faithful.

This is wise advice, because this is exactly why Ursula marries Derek: She's grateful that he isn't a total jerkwad like every other man in her life. (Of course, he turns out to be the worst of them all—it helps to get to know someone better before marrying them.)

Ursula seems to have bought into Sylvie's belief that being a wife is the most important thing ever. Ursula has given up any sense of personal agency, giving up her entire identity to be married to Derek, in the hope of being "safe," but he takes advantage of her lack of power.

This is the truth, especially in these days where courtship doesn't seem to be the same as dating is today. People often let their true natures show after getting married, maybe because divorce is so uncommon.

While Ursula is living with Crighton, she has to pretend to be married. Cohabitation isn't a thing at this time.

This is a shrewd insult on Izzie's part. Sylvie often buys into norms regarding women and marriage just because they're the norm, and then she seems stifled by them, but accepts them for how things are. But does Izzie do the same thing? What was her motivation for getting married?

Sylvie is warning against marrying after "love at first sight," and we have to admit it's wise advice. Love at first sight is often lust in disguise, and not the best basis for a marriage.

Sounds like someone has been reading Anna Karenina. This reminds us of the first line: "All happy families are alike, every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." Replace family with couple, and you won't be too far off base.

A sleazy man says this to Hugh while Hugh is pretending to be his pregnant sister's husband. We're not sure if he's serious or not, but his attitude seems in line with the attitudes of many men at this time.