Wife, Nun, or Spinster

Blanca was 17 years old when she married Jack in December 1911. He was in his early 30s. OK, not an ideal pairing of ages, but then, not as extreme as today’s Hugh Hefner, Michael Douglas, or Paul McCartney. A hundred years ago, it wasn’t so unusual for girls to marry older men who had steady jobs, who could support a family.

Especially in the developing city of Santiago, Chile, a respectable girl had 3 paths in life:  a wife, a nun, or a spinster. Ironically, Blanca and her two sisters embodied each of these roles.

Blanca’s oldest sister Manuela entered the convent Nuestra Senora de la Victoria, in Santiago. Whether Manuela took holy vows by choice, or not, is a matter of rumor and speculation. Luz Larrain’s 1994 fictional bio portrays Manuela as a wild, flirty girl sent to the convent by her parents to get her free spirit under control.

Blanca’s second older sister Amalia never married, never had children of her own, and stayed at home to serve her widowed mother. She supported Blanca at the murder trial – testified in her defense – but in the end succumbed to loneliness. A journal article published by the Vina del Mar heritage association hints that in later years Amalia became demented and dangerously violent, finally being committed to an insane asylum.

Blanca already had “suitors galore” when Jack caught her attention at the sunny seaside. His outgoing Yankee personality, his exotic blue eyes, his athletic enthusiasm made him stand out from the crowd.  Blanca was being groomed that summer to pick a husband. She had just returned from a European boarding school. The clock was ticking. She had very few choices – nun, spinster, or wife – and she chose to get married. She was a few months short of 18 years old when she donned a lace gown with a trailing hem and walked down the aisle of a church in Paris. It seems young to us, now, but the fact is she would have been married at that age whether or not Jack showed up. Her only minor act of rebellion was in her choice of husbands, not her choice to get married or not.