Manners & etiquette books for the 1880 time frame mostly cover Victorian England, and Americans tried to follow them. How 20 year olds courted and married is very well covered. A few address US customs, which were less restrictive than England, excluding our upper class. The mourning period for a widow was 2 years, although working women couldn't afford to comply. For the widower it was 3 months at most.
I haven't found a manual that addresses the social norms for a young American widow.
So, the story situation is this - The husband betrayed his wife and ran off with her best friend to a divorce colony in upstate New York. At that time New York had lax divorce laws. The woman's husband showed up and shot the unfaithful husband.
The young middle class widow refused to honor him with the grieving ritual, wearing black, and keeping herself sequestered as society expected.
My question is - what social activities could she undertake and not incur the wrath of middle class society? What would happen if she began seeing someone after 6 months? She resides in southern Pennsylvania.
Thanks in advance
I haven't found a manual that addresses the social norms for a young American widow.
So, the story situation is this - The husband betrayed his wife and ran off with her best friend to a divorce colony in upstate New York. At that time New York had lax divorce laws. The woman's husband showed up and shot the unfaithful husband.
The young middle class widow refused to honor him with the grieving ritual, wearing black, and keeping herself sequestered as society expected.
My question is - what social activities could she undertake and not incur the wrath of middle class society? What would happen if she began seeing someone after 6 months? She resides in southern Pennsylvania.
Thanks in advance