Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty

Divorce is used as a motif in two ways. It enters the tale in 1895, when Alva Vanderbilt divorced her husband, Willie. This was a bold move that was unheard of at the time. Men had so many legal advantages that women risked being alone and penniless if they dared seek a divorce; those in bad marriages typically suffered silently—until Alva came along. She later said she was first to do everything: “I blaze the trail for the rest to walk in. I was the first girl of my ‘set’ to marry a Vanderbilt. Then I was the first society woman to ask for a divorce, and within a year ever so many others had followed my example” (141). Thus, divorce emerges as an emblem of greater freedom and independence for women.

However, the authors also use it to show how the Vanderbilts lost their fortune over time. In the 20th century, both women and men in the Vanderbilt family felt freer to seek divorce as it became more accepted in society at large. Men often did so to marry younger women, sometimes women they had kept as mistresses during their first marriage. Because both parties continued to live in Vanderbilt