All marriage is such a lottery — the happiness is always an exchange — though it may be a very happy one — still the poor woman is bodily and morally the husband’s slave. That always sticks in my throat. When I think of a merry, happy, and free young girl — and look at the ailing aching state a young wife is generally doomed to — which you can’t deny is the penalty of marriage.

Victoria (1819-1901) British monarch, queen, empress (1837-1901) [Alexandrina Victoria Wettin, née Hanover]

Letter to her daughter, Victoria (16 May 1860)