... I said children are not completely fulfilling in themselves, not that one could not find fufillment as a mother. I point you to the countless examples of post-natal depression in which women feel abandoned and unable to cope with the sudden narrowing of opportunity that maternity involves.

I would suggest that the repression of not being at liberty to make one's own travel decisions has affected all the female characters in the novel, but the idea that this in itself had made Mary bored is your implication from my post, not mine. I was attempting to suggest that Mary's family, primarily her husband, had a duty to support her as an individual. It is true she has not helped Charles or the Musgroves in her constant peevishness, but were she given more recreational opportunities, she may have less need to fall back on any 'illness' as an excuse to receive stimulation. They are expecting a woman to soldier on without any stimulation, perhaps because Mrs Musgrove did the same, but everyone is different. True, Mary does not have all the marvellous strength of character Anne has in dealing with disappointment - but I would argue being unmarried is easier than being in an unhappy marriage. I therefor do feel some sympathy with Mary because her family life hasn't worked out as happily as she had hoped, although as I did imply ('poor-ish') as she has obviously retreated into selfishness rather than seeking to help others, she is hardly heroic.