Brent holds a Ph.D. in American culture from the University of Michigan. In this essay, Brent discusses the theme of love in Luce's play.

At the beginning of The Women, Mary's attitudes about love are traditional and idealistic. She believes that her husband Stephen married her because he loves her and that he will always love her. She also believes that love between man and wife is the central element of a marriage and that a marriage without love is not worth maintaining. Over the course of the play, however, Mary comes to the conclusion that marriage is a matter of compromise and that love between husband and wife is not the most important factor in maintaining a marriage.

In an early scene of the play, Mary tells her friend Nancy that she now realizes Stephen loved her when she was younger because she was very...