The portrayals of marriage in the older eras is so much different than marriage is currently. There are three works that really stand out on defining the aspects of marriage in these older times. In Marie de France 's, “Yonec,” marriage is portrayed as a way for a man to gain his own desires. On the other hand, Margery Kempe 's, “The Book of Margery Kempe,” shows a woman being unhappy in her marriage and how people dislike her due to her viewpoints. Finally, Willaim Hogarth 's, “Marriage a la Mode,” uses engravings to showcase the perils of an arranged marriage. Through these three works, marriage 's aspects are revealed: the duties of the wife, the motivation behind marriages, and the power a man has in a marriage. “Marriage a la Mode” and
…show more content…
In the second engraving, it is most evident. The first sign is that the clock shows that it is past 1 AM, which means that the wife has nothing to do the next day, and thus, needs no rest. A second sign is the book on the floor beside her, which tells viewers that she had been playing cards with her friends all night long. This is another sign of idleness because she had had nothing to do throughout the night, and her husband hadn 't entertained her with other affairs as he was out for the night. This relays that his expectations are that his wife be …show more content…
Kempe devotes her love and life to God, while abandoning her love for her husband. However, she is still required to obey her husband. Kempe tells her husband, “I may not deny you my body, but the love of my heart and my affection is... set only in God” (Kempe 47). So her husband uses her body through his own will. Kempe obeys her husband 's will but “with great weeping and sorrowing” (Kempe 47). As painful as it is for Kempe to obey her husband accept her wifely duties, she still does so since marriage makes the woman the rightful property of the man. As time passes on, the husband finally lets his wife obey God, and she does. She leaves him and adventures and speaks of the Lord passionately. However, in her absence her husband falls and severely injures himself. People would speak slanderous of her because of her absence to her husband, stating that “if he died, his wife was worthy to be hanged for his death, forasmuch as she might have kept him and did not” (Kempe 58). The people 's rash reasoning would not be accepted in today 's thinking, but in that era this was a logical way of thinking since a wife 's duty was to obey and fulfill her husband 's desire. Kempe 's devotion to God, on top of her husband 's injury, lead people to believe she was to blame for her husband 's injury. The reasoning being, that if Kempe had fulfilled her duties in caring for her
In the second engraving, it is most evident. The first sign is that the clock shows that it is past 1 AM, which means that the wife has nothing to do the next day, and thus, needs no rest. A second sign is the book on the floor beside her, which tells viewers that she had been playing cards with her friends all night long. This is another sign of idleness because she had had nothing to do throughout the night, and her husband hadn 't entertained her with other affairs as he was out for the night. This relays that his expectations are that his wife be …show more content…
Kempe devotes her love and life to God, while abandoning her love for her husband. However, she is still required to obey her husband. Kempe tells her husband, “I may not deny you my body, but the love of my heart and my affection is... set only in God” (Kempe 47). So her husband uses her body through his own will. Kempe obeys her husband 's will but “with great weeping and sorrowing” (Kempe 47). As painful as it is for Kempe to obey her husband accept her wifely duties, she still does so since marriage makes the woman the rightful property of the man. As time passes on, the husband finally lets his wife obey God, and she does. She leaves him and adventures and speaks of the Lord passionately. However, in her absence her husband falls and severely injures himself. People would speak slanderous of her because of her absence to her husband, stating that “if he died, his wife was worthy to be hanged for his death, forasmuch as she might have kept him and did not” (Kempe 58). The people 's rash reasoning would not be accepted in today 's thinking, but in that era this was a logical way of thinking since a wife 's duty was to obey and fulfill her husband 's desire. Kempe 's devotion to God, on top of her husband 's injury, lead people to believe she was to blame for her husband 's injury. The reasoning being, that if Kempe had fulfilled her duties in caring for her