I disagree... I think Apollonia would have been able to stand up to Michael, too, but in a more appropriate and loving way, not by murdering his child. She was young and submissive, yes, but she had a very strong personality, similar to Michael's mother. I think she would have been able to stand up to Michael and even influence him, in an "old-country" way, although not in business... She would know her place, also.

I don't know if Kay's independence had as much to do with her education as it did with her upbringing as an American. The American ideal of a strong woman is an independent woman, but in many other nationalities, including (especially) Italian, a strong woman is exactly what Apollonia would have grown into, in a submissive way. She had all the makings of a strong, stubborn woman (What? but she's Italian! ). Don't forget, it takes a VERY strong woman to even be able to have that type of submission towards someone she loves, despite her pride, and to support her husband and be a part of him even though he (rightly) shuts her out of such an important part of his life, his business. But what I'm trying to say is that it goes beyond the submission... these women know when to be submissive, and when to stand up to their husbands the way only they can. Some crap, men would only take from their wives; no one else could get away with that kind of thing.