Marriage in the 19th centuryMarriage is the union of two people as husband and wife in accordance with laws and customs. In our society today, women marry of their own free will and earn the respect of their spouses. “A 21st Century Dream” is a story written by “Winnifred Harper Cooly”. It's a young woman's dream. She imagines that women of the 21st century will have a better place in society. In the 19th century, ideal marriages were very difficult to achieve and most of the time they took place without true love. This short story says that women of that era married someone to overcome their financial difficulties. It also describes the lack of respect between married couples. In the 19th century, marriages were performed for women's financial security. "Women's goal was to get married and take up housework", -Shanny Meideï, Women's Work, p.150 The reason why women wanted to take up housework is that the conditions of work was very bad at that time. The only way to get rid of this job was to get married. "Everyone gets married, and the number of ideal universities...