Why do you suppose Ianthe so wanted to marry Walter? What did you think of the couple’s interactions? What future do you see for them?
Ianthe needed financial security and would do anything to keep it. Walter wanted a submissive trophy wife and she fit the bill.
Her mother was very odd so I imagine she had a hard childhood. She wanted a husband who would love her and take care of her. She would feel very secure with a husband like him.
Patricia hits it on the head. Ianthe was looking for financial and social security. Walter was a solid citizen and able to provide that. (He was also pretty rigid, so I wonder ed about the likelihood their marriage would be successful.) I think Ianthe also wanted out of Greece – to start over where she was an unknown and could create her own persona.
Ditto to the above remarks. Also, the “winds of war” were beginning; not that Ianthe would notice. If I recall, Walter had some opinions, though. Ianthe could imagine a future in the U.S., but what would she have done in Greece except continue to complain and repeat her mother’s snarky attitude. Walter’s return to her was her ticket. She did seem to move beyond the past quarrels in the end.
Their future: Ianthe better mold herself into Walter’s image of a mate - or else!
She reminded me a little of Elsie Strong from The Moonshine Women - a young woman (a girl, really) with an unrealistic expectation of what married life is like, who in part is just looking for an escape. I’m sure it was a lot more common than it is now (my parents were unhappily married because my mother was looking to escape her parents’ home). I feel fortunate that I live in a time when women have more options.
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She wanted to have money and a place in society. I’m not sure she knew what would be expected of her life with Walter. He wanted to be the boss.
I agree with the above comments. Also this was a time period when women did not have the freedoms of today so she accepted Walter’s lifestyle