Analysis of Goodwives

A detailed Summary of 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

Another negative way men used women was for the purposes of procreation. Having children for the means of loving each other and strengthening the bond of matrimony is one thing, but having the large quantities of children that some of these families had is quite another subject, especially, if that subject was for the purposes of providing help to maintain the farm. 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 third negative aspect of how men used women was that women had to submit to their husbands because it was the law. "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. 7). A wife could not do anything without the permission of her hus

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Approximate Word count = 704
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History

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