Analysis of Goodwives
According to Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, men used women both positively and negatively. From my understanding of the book "Good Wives" there were more negative then positive ways of how men used women between 1650 and 1750 in Northern New England. Here I will briefly explain the one and only positive aspect followed by the negative aspects. I will also express my opin-ion of the relationships between men and women during this time period, whether they were positive or negative. The one and only positive way men (husbands) used women (wives) were as Deputy Husbands. A Deputy Husband would stand in the place of her husband in his absence or if he were unable to perform his duties. "Some wives were servile, some were shrews, others were respected compan-ions who shared the authority of their spouses in the management of family affairs" (p. 38). In performing her husband's duties, a wife not only gained the respect of her husband, but she also gained his trust as well. As a consort ("a consort tuned her life to her mate's" (p. 9)), a wife w
Husbands respected their wives' domain as the center or the heart of the farm and the family, whereas, the wives respected the husband's authority and manly duties. Another negative way men used women was for the purposes of procreation. But if the wife needed the husband's help, he would not help her. They were forced to sit in the balcony with their children. A wife was expected to do the daily chores of the house, take care of the children, and if her husband needed her, she would help him as well. In my opinion, husbands and wives, despite their different roles, complemented each other. If only the men of the late seventeenth to the early eighteenth-centuries knew of the pain, anguish, and stress that a woman's body goes through during pregnancy and delivery, there may have been fewer children. "A Christian seized spiritual equality and remained silent in the church. The last and probably the most controversial negative aspect of how men used women was for sex. A wife could not do anything without the permission of her husband. "By marriage, the husband and wife are one person in law; that is the very being or legal existence of the woman is suspended during marriage, or at least is incorporated and consolidated into that of the husband; under whose wing, protection, and cover, she performs everything" (p. ould be aware that in strengthening her husband's business affairs she strengthened her own. A third negative aspect of how men used women was that women had to submit to their husbands because it was the law. It was as if wives were indentured servants to their husbands.
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