societal expectations

Sophia Peabody Hawthorne, (1809-1871) was the devoted and artistically gifted wife of the American author, Nathaniel Hawthorne. All through her life, before her marriage to Nathaniel Hawthorne, Sophia suffered from migraines brought on by mercury treatments as a child. Because of this, her mother and sisters believed her to be an invalid and treated her like one. They told her she’d never marry. She heard her mother say ‘Sophie will never leave me.’  She was constantly told ‘It’s a woman’s lot. It’s God’s will…’ but she refused to believe she was doomed to this fate. Sophia was lonely growing up—her sisters ignored her, her motherRead More →