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
Ianthe wanted the financial security and her place in society to be respected. I don’t think she felt respected or admired by her family, so she sought that out in Walter. I also think she wanted a “fresh start” in America.
Ianthe always felt like a second class citizen in the family. Her mother was strange and there was resentment in the family. Walter was wealthy and her ticket to financial and, she believed, emotional security. Walter was rigid but seems have cared about her because he set aside his dislike of the family’s craziness to marry Ianthe.
I felt it was mostly about escaping. The hope of beginning again in a new country. Often I had to backtrack to place who Ianthe even was.
These were two unbelieiveable cardboard characters. I could not bring myself to care about their future.
I would have liked this to be a little more developed. It’s clear that Ianthe is seeking security because of her family dynamics, but it could have used some more detail
ianthe wanted a fresh start in America and the security of a wealthy husband. I give her a great chance as she is going into her marriage knowing what she wants.