This study examines the female characters in from the perspective of non-maritalism, noting that the non-marriage narratives for both upper-class and lower-class women appear simultaneously in the novel. In modern studies of non-marriage, non-marriage is classified into voluntary and involuntary one, and temporary and continuous one. In general, voluntarily unmarried women are satisfied with the present and consider their lives more important than marriage, while involuntarily unmarried women tend to want to overcome their current unsatisfactory lives through marriage. In the Joseon Dynasty, when marriage was encouraged at the national level, unmarried women were recognized as pitiful and unstable beings that were in danger, and were subject to considerate care and management. Despite the time distance between Joseon and today, there are quite many similar aspects of non-marriage, including the reasons and the social perception of non-marriage. Jeong Wi-ju in , after being forced out of her marriage, is placed in a situation of involuntary and temporary non-marriage and then in an involuntary and continuous non-marriage situation as her parents passed away. She lives a life of isolation and disconnection without giving up expectations for marriage in the justification of faithfulness to her original marriage. In case of Jang Ran, one of Jeong Wi-ju’s maids, she falls into the category of involuntary and temporary unmarried woman, resulted from the downfall of her family and the death of her parents. However, she finds out the difficulty of marrying an eligible man who meets her expectations, and then she gradually dreams of a voluntary and continuous non-marital life and realizes it. She enjoys her life independently, forming a community with other Jeong Wi-ju’s maids, and showing solidarity and communicating with them. If Jeong Wi-ju’s life shows the reality for unmarried women of the time, Jang Ran’s life is close to the ideal. In that the community of maids that appears to be ideal is not different from the form of life pursued by today’s voluntarily unmarried women and in that the community also communicates with men, has significant implications for the contemporary discussion of non-marriage.