Phil Gordon and Jo Blake’s Marriage and Shared Life

Phil Gordon and Jo’s marriage turns Phil’s earlier calculations about marriage toward a choice grounded in love: she marries Jo and embraces a shared life on Patterson Street, although her mother objects to the neighborhood where he is to serve. Their wedding is also a measure of how far Phil’s priorities have shifted from wealth and social advantage to the happiness she finds with him.

Earlier Ideas About Marriage

At Redmond, Phil told Anne that she had come to college partly to postpone marriage. She wanted time for fun before settling down and described marriage to a rich man as a necessity: she considered herself extravagant and unable to do useful work, and thought a poor husband would not suit her. She also resisted the idea of falling in love, believing it would make her a man’s slave and give him the power to hurt her. Her account treated marriage as a choice among suitors, shaped by money, appearance, and the difficulty of deciding between alternatives.

That earlier outlook gives her later marriage to Jo a distinct significance. Phil’s happiness is not presented as the reward of securing the wealthy match she once considered essential. Instead, she speaks of the life she expects to build with Jo, making affection—not the financial advantages she had emphasized—the basis of her choice.

Wedding in Bolingbroke

Phil marries Jo the week after Anne hears about Jane’s forthcoming marriage. Anne travels to Bolingbroke to serve as Phil’s bridesmaid. Phil is described as a delicate, fairy-like bride, while Jo is so radiant with happiness that those present do not think him plain. The scene places their joy, rather than wealth or appearance alone, at the center of the wedding.

The Life They Choose

Phil describes their immediate plans as a lovers’ journey through the land of Evangeline, followed by settling on Patterson Street. Her mother regards the proposed home as an unsuitable place for a minister and believes Jo should take a church somewhere more respectable. Phil sees the same setting through her attachment to him: Patterson Street will flourish for her because Jo will be there. Their plans therefore bring together a specific domestic future and a disagreement about what makes a place, and a marriage, desirable.

Phil says she is so happy that her heart aches. The declaration gives the marriage an emotional force distinct from the practical advantages she once demanded of a husband. The passage establishes their wedding and their intention to make a life together, while leaving the later course of that shared life outside the account.