Study Questions
1. Marie Souvestre hoped that Eleanor Roosevelt would achieve some kind of meaningful existence when Eleanor returned to New York-that her character would not be undermined by "social dissipations." What were some of the creative outlets for a woman's talents in 1900? How did Eleanor's work at Rivington Street Social House take her into that creative world? And why did Eleanor eventually have to give up social work?
2. What was the nature of Eleanor and Franklin’s courtship? What attracted each to the other? What did each expect from their marriage?
3. How did Eleanor and Franklin’s honeymoon experience in the Dolomites suggest both their capacity for intimacy and also differences in their temperaments that might eventually cause problems?
4. Kitty Gandy was apparently unrestrained by the social conventions that limited the creative outlets for socially elite women like Eleanor Roosevelt. In what ways did Kitty's life reflect that greater freedom?
5. What were the important features of Eleanor's early married life to Franklin? What were the pleasures of her life as a young bride? In what ways and for what reasons did she feel herself confined and thwarted by her role as a married woman? What role did Franklin's mother, Sara Roosevelt, play in her early married life?
6. Evaluate Eleanor's role as a mother: in what ways did convention and circumstance determine the role she played (and did not play) in raising her own children? What were her accomplishments and limitations as a parent?
1. Marie Souvestre hoped that Eleanor Roosevelt would achieve some kind of meaningful existence when Eleanor returned to New York-that her character would not be undermined by "social dissipations." What were some of the creative outlets for a woman's talents in 1900? How did Eleanor's work at Rivington Street Social House take her into that creative world? And why did Eleanor eventually have to give up social work?
2. What was the nature of Eleanor and Franklin’s courtship? What attracted each to the other? What did each expect from their marriage?
3. How did Eleanor and Franklin’s honeymoon experience in the Dolomites suggest both their capacity for intimacy and also differences in their temperaments that might eventually cause problems?
4. Kitty Gandy was apparently unrestrained by the social conventions that limited the creative outlets for socially elite women like Eleanor Roosevelt. In what ways did Kitty's life reflect that greater freedom?
5. What were the important features of Eleanor's early married life to Franklin? What were the pleasures of her life as a young bride? In what ways and for what reasons did she feel herself confined and thwarted by her role as a married woman? What role did Franklin's mother, Sara Roosevelt, play in her early married life?
6. Evaluate Eleanor's role as a mother: in what ways did convention and circumstance determine the role she played (and did not play) in raising her own children? What were her accomplishments and limitations as a parent?
