Despite the social norm of the time being that a woman is expected to marry a man in order to look upon him and depend upon him financially, Mary Seacole shatters this status quo by refusing to remarry after her first husband dies. It is stated in her book that “from a confidence in [her] own powers, and not at all from necessity, that [she] remained an unprotected female” (16). Despite many suitors coming to her home in Kingston once she became a widow, she never took any of them to be her betrothed. Refusing to remarry offered Seacole a sense of autonomy and agency that she would not have been awarded if she were married to a man. Because of this independence, she is able to fully step into the role of nurse and businesswoman. It is from these two professions that she was able to touch the lives of those around her.

Seacole, Mary. “Chapter II.” Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands, Penguin Books, 2005, pp. 16.