Final answer:
In Twain's time, women could not vote or exert much control over their lives and careers due to societal restrictions and laws that aimed to maintain them within traditional gender roles. Women faced limitations on owning property, and pursuing education, and were discouraged from entering many professions.
Step-by-step explanation:
During Mark Twain's era, women faced significant societal restrictions that limited their rights and opportunities. Women could not vote, own property independently if married, or access higher education freely. It wasn't until the late 19th and early 20th centuries that women began to attend college in more significant numbers, although they still faced extensive discrimination and socio-legal limitations.
They were expected to adhere to traditional roles as homemakers and caregivers, a sentiment reinforced by laws and societal expectations. Employment opportunities for women were limited to roles deemed appropriate for their gender, and they were paid significantly less than men. Advocacy for women's rights, including suffrage and property ownership, was a contentious issue, and it took many years of struggle for women to gain these fundamental rights.
Even after the passing of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920, which granted women the right to vote in the United States, they were infrequently seen running for or holding public office. The mid-twentieth-century American ideal still largely confined women to domestic life, and those seeking a career often did so under unfair conditions compared to their male counterparts.