Maria: or, The Wrongs of Woman

Maria continues her narrative; after she and George got married, they moved to London, where she quickly started to see the flaws in her new husband’s character. For example, he refused to provide any money for Maria’s sisters. However, when Maria found out that George had significant debts, she rationalized that he might have actually been unable to help her sisters, not simply selfish. As Maria explains, “I was glad to find an excuse for his conduct to my sisters, and my mind became calmer” (108). For a while, Maria enjoyed her new life in London. However, she didn’t enjoy spending time with George and his friends, who were often preoccupied with flaunting their wealth and didn’t share Maria’s intellectual and artistic interests.

During the first five years of their marriage, George overspent and gambled, and Maria often borrowed money from her uncle in order to pay off his debts. Eventually, she refused to keep doing so, and after that, George became very cold and distant. By this time, he was openly having affairs with sex workers and lower-class women. Maria was also disgusted by George’s drunken and boorish behavior and appearance. Meanwhile, her father had married his mistress, and Maria’s two younger sisters could not tolerate living with their stepmother.