The Contemporary Woman in 1703

815 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Role of wife in middle ages

The Contemporary Woman in 1703

In the poem "To the Ladies," Lady Mary Chudleigh demonstrates affinity between wife and servant (1) through the use of a controlling metaphor. She describes a wife’s role by depicting it through ideas that are strongly associated with slavery. Chudleigh’s use of deigning diction, her description of the wife’s submissive actions, and her negative attitude towards the perceived future of a woman who gets married show the similarity among wife and servant (1). Chudleigh presents this poem as a warning to women who are not yet married, and as an offering of regret to those who are.

Chudleigh’s use of deigning diction is key to understanding her view on the matter of marriage. She emphasizes the word "obey" by using it twice in the poem (5, 17). Along with the usage, Chudleigh capitalizes and italicizes "Obey" in line five, "When she the word Obey has said,/ And man by law supreme has made" (5-6). The word "obey" (5) is used as a synecdoche to represent all of the marriage vows, and the infamous "I do" at the end of the marriage ceremony. Chudleigh chooses to use "obey" as a synecdoche of all of the vows because it most fully describes her disdain of marriage. "Obey" conveys submission, servitude and required commitment, the aspects of marriage she scorns. All of the words that describe the tone and emotion of "obey" are incorporated in the action of slavery. Chudleigh uses the word "obey" to stress that when you take your marriage vows, a woman is ultimately agreeing to obey her husband, she is yielding to a life of servitude, hardly differing from slavery.

Chudleigh claims "Him still must serve, him still obey" (17) to re-emphasize the servitude a wife must perform for her husband. Ob...

... middle of paper ...

...ervant, when she should value herself and be proud and wise.

Even though Chudleigh eloquently forewarns women about the consequences of marriage, she neglects to address the aftereffects of not getting married. Chudleigh discounts how difficult it is to be an unwed woman in 1703. For the amount she detests marriage, it is ironic that she doesn’t offer and help to the brave women who venture into life on their own. There is no alternative posed to women as to how they are going to make money, where they are going to live or any other issue imperative to survival. Not only does Chudleigh elide the issue of basic survival, she also avoids offering a means of "getting out" for the women who are already married. It appears as though Chudleigh is very quick to condemn marriage, but not as eager to assist women whom she believes need a way out of a "fatal" matrimony.

Show More
Related

  • Anna Williams and Charlotte Lennox

    617 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the eighteenth century, the process of choosing a husband and marrying was not always beneficial to the woman. A myriad of factors prevented women from marrying a man that she herself loved. Additionally, the men that women in the eighteenth century did end up with certainly had the potential to be abusive. The attitudes of Charlotte Lennox and Anna Williams toward women’s desire for male companionship, as well as the politics of sexuality, are very different. Although both Charlotte Lennox and Anna Williams express a desire for men in their poetry, Charlotte Lennox views the implications of this desire differently than Anna Williams.

    Read More

  • The Tone Of Wollstonecraft's On Making An Agreeable Marriage

    267 Words  | 1 Pages

    The angry tone of Wollstonecraft’s “Vindication of the Rights of Women” significantly contrasts with the cautionary tone of Austen’s “On Making an Agreeable Marriage,” seeking to reform society rather than guide people to live in that society. When Austen describes the drawbacks of loveless marriage, she writes that “Anything is to be preferred or endured rather than marrying without affection” (Austen 72-73). Austen uses “preferred” and “endured” to warn her niece against marrying too quickly, creating a cautionary tone. Moreover, “anything” emphasizes the miserableness of a marriage without affection, beseeching Austen’s niece to verify her love before diving headfirst into a marriage. In contrast, when demonizing the education system, Wollstonecraft

    Read More

  • Edna Pontellier and Elizabeth Bennet: Challenge of 19th Century Conventional Methods

    1359 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Bible which is seen as one of the most sacred text to man has contained in it not only the Ten Commandments, but wedding vows. In those vows couples promise to love, cherish, and honor each other until death does them apart. The irony of women accepting these vows in the nineteenth century is that women are viewed as property and often marry to secure a strong economic future for themselves and their family; love is never taken into consideration or questioned when a viable suitor presents himself to a women. Often times these women do not cherish their husband, and in the case of Edna Pontiellier while seeking freedom from inherited societal expectations and patriarchal control; even honor them. Women are expected to be caretakers of the home, which often time is where they remain confined. They are the quintessential mother and wife and are expected not to challenge that which...

    Read More

  • Shirley Chiisholm's Patriarchy: Race, Revolution And Women

    703 Words  | 2 Pages

    This source provided the unique perspective of what was thought to be the perfect household, with a man who worked and a wife who cooked and cleaned. However, it also showed how a woman could also do what a man can do, and in some cases they could do it even better. This work is appropriate to use in this essay because it shows how men talked down to their wives as if they were children. This work shows the gradual progression of woman equality and how a woman is able to make her own decisions without her husband’s input.

    Read More

  • epq

    923 Words  | 2 Pages

    “From the dawn of human society, every woman was in a state of bondage to some man, because she was of value to him and she had less muscular strength than he did.” (Stuart Mill, John. The Subjection of Women, New York: D. Appleton Co, 1869)

    Read More

  • Theme Of Margaret In Much Ado About Nothing

    826 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... She first criticizes Hero’s choice of a ruff; then she indirectly denigrates Hero’s wedding gown by contrasting its simplicity with the duchess of Milan’s lavish garment (3.4.14-23); finally, she mocks the prim and proper Hero by making a coarse sexual allusion (3.4.27). When Hero rebukes her, Margaret refuses to be shamed and defends herself: “[ashamed] of what, lady? Of speaking honorably? Is not marriage honorable in a beggar? Is not your lord honorable without marriage? (3.4.28-31). By implying that honor is achieved not through any marriage but through a “good,” socially suitable marriage, Margaret implicitly criticizes the inequality in her society and expresses her desire for a marriage that will not leave her “below stairs” (5.2.10). But she is acutely aware that she has no such marriage prospects as she resentfully watches Hero’s wedding preparations.

    Read More

  • Wife Of Bath Comparison Essay

    706 Words  | 2 Pages

    The idea of supremacy and dignity are both present in The Wife of Bath’s Tale making it the central concept throughout the entirety of her story. It is assumed that her primary marriage was organized by her parents, even though The Wife of Bath does not mention them in her prologue, “experience, though no authority/ were in this world, is right enough for me/to speak of the woe that is in marriage; /for, my lords, since I was twelve years of age.” (Chaucer 285). In that time period, it is considered that the men, such as a father, husband or even a brother are supposed to protect the women in the family. Even though The Wife of Bath does not believe in being ruled by a man, she does however like to be married to one. One will notice that when a husband passed away or left, The Wife will move to her next husband. A marriage where the wife conquers over the husband is a perfect, blissful one according to The Wife of Bath. She discovers that it’s not too...

    Read More

  • 19th Century Women

    1610 Words  | 4 Pages

    19th-Century Women Works Cited Missing Women in the nineteenth century, for the most part, had to follow the common role presented to them by society. This role can be summed up by what historians call the “cult of domesticity”. The McGuffey Readers does a successful job at illustrating the women’s role in society. Women that took part in the overland trail, as described in “Women’s Diaries of the Westward Journey” had to try to follow these roles while facing many challenges that made it very difficult to do so. One of the most common expectations for women is that they are responsible for doing the chore of cleaning, whether it is cleaning the house, doing the laundry.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of To The Ladies

    845 Words  | 2 Pages

    She explains that once the vows are exchanged, she must obey her husband from that point forward. Chudleigh emphasizes the word obey by not only using it in line 5, but in line 17 as well, “Him still must serve. Him still obey” (17). In line 5, she capitalizes the word and even italicizes it along with the usage to emphasize her stance. The expression to love, honor and obey is used as a synecdoche during a vow exchange at a marriage ceremony right before the “I do’s”. Conversely, Chudleigh chooses to use obey which is also found in vows as a term to convince the reader her overall disparage of marriage. The phrase obey is synonymously used as a term of submission, subordination, and a required commitment. Chudleigh’s interpretation suggests that if the vows contend to “obey” your husband, yielding a life of servitude, then such a life would hardly differ from the life of a slave. Chudleigh’s patronizing diction and selection of verbiage such as this one addresses her despise of matrimony.

    Read More

  • Women In Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales

    568 Words  | 2 Pages

    In medieval England, society’s roles were dominated by men and women were either kept at home or doing labor work. Among the most famous medieval English literature, “The Canterbury Tales” by Geoffrey Chaucer, lies ‘The Wife of Bath's Prologue’ and ‘The Wife of Bath's Tale.’ Within, Chaucer shares his perspective of the Wife of Bath, the Queen, and the Crone. Through the use of symbolism and diction, Chaucer aims to change society’s expectations of women.

    Read More

  • Hedda Gabbler, by Henrik Ibsen and Madame Bovary, by Gustave Flaubert

    837 Words  | 2 Pages

    The role of a woman remains the same throughout human history. Many women prepare for the role of wife and mother from an early age. If one is not married at a certain age then they are labeled as a spinster, a prude. Hedda Gabler and Emma Bovary fearful of being dubbed as a spinster, marry men whom they both despised. During the mid 1800’s, Emma Bovary’s period: women considered inferior to their male counterparts, they could not divorce their husbands, and their husbands essentially own them. Alas during Hedda Gabler’s setting, nothing changes. Because of their society, they are alienated individuals thwarted due to their social status, gender, and misguided intentions.

    Read More

  • Gender Oriented Analysis in Wife of Bath by Geoffrey Chaucer

    1428 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Wife prefaces her tale with a rather lengthy prologue, in which she recounts in detail the story of her five different marriages. The prologue might at first glance appear to have very little relevance to the actual tale, but in fact the Wife’s treatment of her husbands (and their responses to her) are echoed later when she begins her tale. The Wife’s husbands fall into two categories: the rich and elderly, or the “goode,” and the young and virile, or the “badde” (203). The older husbands, while wealthy, are unable to satisfy the Wife in the bedroom. However, she takes great pleasure in dominating these men in almost every aspect of each marriage. Sh...

    Read More

  • The Wife Of Bath In Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales

    1765 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Wife of Bath is one of the most famous characters within Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. In her prologue, it is quickly made clear that she has had a lot of husbands and by a lot I mean five. Since she has all this experience with men, The Wife of Bath dedicates her prologue to describing how each of her marriages went. In her five marriages she has been accused of lusting too much, to being too controlling, and being abused. While some good husbands were good and some were bad, The Wife of Bath depicts a solid image of her feelings toward men. In her relationships, she must always have the upper hand. She is the type of woman who gets what she wants when she wants it. While describing one of her marriages, The Wife of Bath explains how

    Read More

  • Women And Women In Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales

    2374 Words  | 5 Pages

    The debate of which individual should have the authority in a marriage, the man or the woman, is a topic that has remained unanswered for centuries. While he does not solve this debate, Geoffrey Chaucer attempts to unpack the different elements that factor into it. In Canterbury Tales, primarily in the prologue of the Wife of Bath and both tales of the Wife of Bath and the Clerk, Chaucer displays different types of marriages. These marriages analyze how a man or woman can gain authority over the other. These marriages vary in terms of their dynamics due to the unique individuals and their environments. Through an analysis of the marriages depicted by Chaucer in the prologue and tales of the Clerk and the Wife of Bath, one can see the different

    Read More

  • Theme Of Women In David Copperfield

    729 Words  | 2 Pages

    Within these marriages, readers get a sense of how education plays an important role in a successful marriage, as this fulfills both of their dreams of personal identity. Although women in the nineteenth century were viewed to be superior wives and mothers, manage the household, and perform domestic tasks, it was important for women to become educated as “an education was supposed to enable these girls to become successful women in society” (Leigh 117). Women were not meant to be “trained” in some way to become good wives, but needed to be formally educated in order to be a successful wife and

    Read More

More about The Contemporary Woman in 1703

Open Document