The Country Wife Dramaturgical File

In 17th Century England, marriage and honor played a significantly more important role than in present day. During the Stuart dynasty, a husband’s rule and dominance over his family was seen as an analogy to the King’s reign over his subjects, and a manifestation of the hierarchy that God ordained. A woman and other fertile individuals were seen to be vastly inferior to a man, and therefore the man had a right to assert his dominance over them.

 

Even though the Puritans were no longer in power, their values were still instilled in the upper-class English people, and for that reason, sexual purity and the status of a married woman was considered the only thing that made upper-class women respectable. The husband was incredibly important, especially because it was nearly impossible for a woman to live independently. If a husband were to die, the woman was encouraged to remarry. 

 

Upper-class men benefitted from the marriage not only because they would be master of a household and take control of his wife’s finances, but he would also become eligible for offices such as a jury member, constable of a Parish, or warden. Marriage of fertile, sexually active women meant immediate motherhood and losing all rights and lands in exchange for a better social stance. A married woman was also allowed to watch other married women’s births. The main purpose of
marriage was to have children. Some people
due to STIs or other biological reasons would be barren
and could not have children but could still marry.

 

Women were allowed to marry at 12, and men were
allowed to marry at 14, but they could both get engaged as
early as 7. While marriage ceremonies were allowed, the
basic expectation for a legally valid marriage was a
marriage contract or a ‘spousal’. The spousal is an act where
the couple declared their vows in the present tense and did
not need to be witnessed or consecrated in a church to be
valid. This was a huge benefit to secret lovers, who could
marry without the knowledge or approval of their parents.

 

While arranged marriages were becoming less common in the 17th century, couples who wanted to marry were still expected to gain approval from their parents. There were several criteria that parents looked for before approving the match:

• The couple should be somewhat similar in age and background, as well as religious beliefs.

• The couple should share similar interests and pleasures.

• The couple should respect each other, and at least like one another, but they do not need to love each other. 

• For men, he needed to know that the woman can run an efficient household.

 

Marriage was the only place where upper-class women could express their sexuality: however, marriage was not meant to be passionate. Upper-class women were encouraged to remain a virgin until marriage, otherwise they would be deemed ‘ruined’. For working-class English women, this was not always the case: as long as a marriage ceremony was held before a child was born, there would be no damage to a reputation. As the Restoration period continued and English people distanced themselves from Puritanism, practicing adultery in secret became fashionable among the elite upper-class. This practice was particularly popular among people in cities such as London but in the country, Puritan values still remained.

 

Once a couple was married, it was considered very important that they remained married, and divorce was not recognized by the Church of England. It could be possible to declare the marriage null and void (as King Henry VIII so often did), and it allowed both partners to remarry. If adultery was proven, the couple also had the opportunity to have a legal separation, but it did not provide the woman her rights or finances back.