Women Leaving Her Husband Analysis

In Marie De France’s poem “Lanval”, the knight Lanval faces immense cultural pressure to get married and have a male heir, as it is the norm in King Arthur’s kingdom. It may appear that “Lanval” is supporting the concept of the institution of marriage, as the story had a heavy focus on marriage, and the court nearly punished Lanval for rejecting Guinevere. On the surface, the poem could easily mislead the reader to believe this is the case, but without further analysis, the reader may miss the courting that the mystery-lady has provided Lanval, which prove why the text critiques the establishment of marriage, as her courting is very much of the inverse of a typical heterosexual relationship in the culture. This misunderstanding can be

While penalties for adultery appear very serious and severe, divorce seems to be a common occurrence in Babylon and punishments for incorrect divorce procedures mostly result in a fine. In addition to a man’s control over a woman’s sexuality, men held the power to divorce their wives for almost any reason in particular while the law required women to provide a sufficient reason to initiate divorce. For example, a man could divorce his wife simply for her inability to produce children. “If a seignior wishes to divorce his wife who did not bear him children, he shall give her money to the full amount of her marriage-price... and then he may divorce her” (Hammurabi). Women on the other hand, encountered many obstacles when attempting to divorce their spouses. “if a seignior’s wife, who was living in the house of the seignior, has made up her mind to leave in order that she may engage in business, thus neglecting her house…they shall prove it against her” (Hammurabi). For women, marriage consisted of a binding contract that included expectations of fertility, responsibility for the household, and compliance. These expectations of women dominated

Stone provides four excellent primary sources that provide back up to the thesis. The sources are of four accounts of marriage disputes in the ninth-century Francia. These accounts are of four noblemen. All the of the noblemen Stone sources were affected by Carolingian reforming measures on consanguineous marriage, divorce and raptus (abduction).

Wealth and property feature heavily in the wife’s portrayal of marriage and along with the issue of her independence is responsible for many of her marital conflicts. The first three husbands "riche and olde" were married each for "hir land and hir tresoor" then discarded as the Wife looks for other prospects. When one of these husbands tries to restrict the Wife’s spending she refuses to let him be both "maister of my body and of my good" so refuses sexual favours in return for her freedom as she will not become a mere possession. She generalizes that women "love no man that taketh or keepth charge" suggesting an element of independence and individualism in 14th century marriage. The wife resents being controlled; she

In this time period, women were the objects that men could ogle over, buy, and use to their liking. She ends saying, "Now as then the theater apparatus is geared to profit a pleasure, and overwhelmingly controlled by males" (Diamond 536). This is still happening today. Women get tight fitting or revealing costumes, they parade themselves onstage for people to see. While the theatre has changed and transformed we still have this sexualized female role. This article can help us look at the theatre today because we can take it and use it to analyze more recent works of theatre. A lot of new theatre focuses on being fresh and trendy and while this is great that we are breaking away from the mold, there are still hints of influence from other writers. While both women and men are a big part of the theatre most business people are men, and even though the theatre is an art it is also a business. This article can influence us in the modern day to look at all aspects of theatre and find out what is actually being done and being influenced by old writers or old

Marriage was a politically fraught concept in 1590’s Elizabethan England, and as noted by Levenson, it was often established that upper

The economics of marriage was not the only pressure on children to marry where their parents directed. Sixteenth-century children, and girls in particular, were very much brought up to obey, and to believe that it was their duty to their parents… to marry the person chosen for them. It would have taken a very strong-minded girl indeed to have refused to follow her parents’ wishes. Girls who did refuse the partner offered could find themselves bullied by their parents. (3)

In the Middle Ages premarital sex was considered as immoral and a sin. The author brings to attention the ancient customs that condemns illegitimate relationships. As his mistress quote would” be grievously punished: tortured by the sword or sold into slavery in another land” (De France 144). This showed how greatly the wrongdoing was taken, just like a crime would have.

Meaning of “Absent” Spouse – The provisions of this article are of American origin, and must be construed in the light of American Jurisprudence. An identical provision (except for the period) exists in the California civil code (section 61); California jurisprudence should, therefore, prove enlightening. It has been held in that jurisdiction that, as respects the validity of a husband’s subsequent marriage, a presumption as to the death of his first wife cannot be predicated upon an absence resulting from his leaving or deserting her, as it is his duty to keep her advised as to his whereabouts. The spouse who has been left or deserted is the one who is considered as the “spouse present”; such spouse is not required to ascertain the whereabouts of the deserting spouse, and after the required number of years of absence of the latter, the former may validly remarry. It is the duty of the spouse who has deserted to keep the abandoned spouse posted as to his whereabouts. It is therefore the subsequent marriage of the abandoned spouse that falls under the class of voidable marriages, and not the re-marriage of the deserting spouse, after the period of seven years has lapsed. A wife who was residing with her husband in a foreign country and there deserted him and went to live with her

Transition into the Renaissance and Elizabethan Era’s showed promising changes when it came to theatre, and the lives and many actors. These performances were all male based and showed very little involvement with women in the theatre. This is because women were not allowed to participate in the theatre. Some people might have been afraid, others might presume due to the social status, that it would be possibly foolish of them to do such a deed and frown upon them doing so. Looking at the differences between the theatre and the role of the woman in the renaissance, there is a contradiction that women did participate in theatre. Although women were not permitted to participate in theatre, research shows that women were indeed participating in

She argues that, contrary to the beliefs of other critics that the Duchess is a bad ruler due to her focus on her personal life, they fail “to take account of how Renaissance gender ideologies are made” (223). This creates holes in their arguments and allows the audience to realize that they must take into account all of the circumstances that were surrounding the Duchess before criticizing how she chose to divide herself amongst her different roles. Each part of her life required her full attention and she was forced to decide how she would handle the difficult situations that she was put in while still having a family. The Duchess also approaches her marriage in a very nontraditional way as she chooses to marry below her in the social class. This is vastly different from the normal tradition of women choosing their husband based on their ability to rule over them and act as a symbol of power. Jankowski shows how the Duchess’ nontraditional behavior presents her as a one of a kind woman ruler who defies the stereotypes set before her: “…she has violated existing patriarchal conventions of marriage to create her own concept of the state” (230). This type of decision making solidifies the fact that the Duchess challenges the typical behavior and roles for women of her time in order to live the life that she

The wife seems to be the most capable of intimacy. Probably because she is a woman, it is easier for her to confine. She reaches out to Robert, first, after for a year stop working for him. They communicate mainly through tapes. It goes on for many years. Of course, the wife has other friends too. Yet, she cannot keep contact with them for long as she had to move constantly due to her ex-husband’s job. However, her blind friend Robert is a special one because they have been around together for almost ten years. She tells Robert almost everything: her first marriage, her life, her loneliness, etc. She even mentions about her failed suicide attempt. It is not easy for many people to talk about the difficult moments in their life like she could.

Women back in the day weren’t necessarily respected in the way they are today. Before the English Restoration they were considered to be equivalent to a housemaid and nothing more. They had little to no available careers or opportunities of work besides basic house care, tending to the husband’s desires, and caring for the children. It was especially true in the theatre aspect; absolutely no women were allowed to have an affiliation with theatre, even when married to someone with high prestige in that career. That is, until King Charles II was restored to the throne, hence the label: The English Restoration in the seventeenth century. Finally, women had a place in the theatre and when they joined the field, they made quite the impact. This paper is dedicated to describe a few of the very important women in the theatre business during the English Restoration and their accomplishments; women such as Anne Bracegirdle who understudied Mary and Thomas Betterton, the

The word “restoration” is represents the historical time period that occurred in England between the years of 1660 to 1700. This era was marked when the monarchy was restored to England after ten years because of the rule of Parliament. During the 17th and 18th century women were placed into three different roles: virgins, married, or widows. While each role was different so were the expectations and images. A married woman during this time would have strictly been at home taking care of the children, cleaning, and cooking meals. The husbands had the most control in the relationship. To document the female roles during this time, there were poems, books, and plays that depicted these roles. The two plays that showed the married women’s role would be The Country Wife which was written by William Wycherley and the Beggar’s Opera that was produced by John Gay.

During the Middle Ages, the feudal system divided society into a strict hierarchy based on social class. Kings were of the highest social class and offered protection to loyal noblemen and women who were of a lower rank. The feudal system relied on people adhering to its social structure, which allowed those in power to go uncontested in their social roles. As a subset of the feudal system, families assumed a similar hierarchal structure, in which men were granted power over their wives’ agency. The Book of the Knight of La Tour-Landry is a late fourteenth-century courtesy book which highlights the feudal hierarchy. Throughout the book, a noble father recounts the Fall story to his daughters to teach them proper noble behaviour in marriage. In the Book of the Knight of La Tour-Landry, the father uses Eve’s disobedience to demonstrate the dangers of vanity and the importance of being loyal to one’s husband. In this sense, the Fall highlights feudal society’s concern with complying to the power structure to ensure that those at the top of the hierarchy remain in power.