In the novel, Marital Cruelty in Antebellum America, author Robin C. Sager explores various marriages within the South. This novel analyzes various abusive relationship dynamics, which include verbal, physical, sexual abuse, as well as the effects of alcohol and neglect. This book explores a series of questions that address the nature of marriage in Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin during antebellum America. Sager declares that when domestic roles in a marriage are unclear, tensions within a household increase, which causes an increase in domestic violence. Two decades leading up to the Civil War, marital issues were at an all time high, and many struggled to discover what it truly meant to be married.
Sager begins the novel revealing how the