Explain how Marmee's hope, in chapter nine, that her children will be happy, whether married or single, reflects the changing times when Alcott was writing the book in the 1860s.

Up until that point, women were often viewed as nothing more than extensions of their husbands. Men held the power and women were simply good for having children to carry on the family. An unmarried woman had very little power and a married one only had as much power as her husband was willing to give to her. Around the 1860s the view of women was changing and women were becoming more independent. Marmee's hopes for her children to be happy, whether married or not, reflects the start of those changes.