Unquiet Lives: Marriage and Marriage Breakdown in England, 1660 1800

ISBN-13: 9780521810586 / Angielski / Twarda / 2003 / 262 str.

Joanna Bailey; Anthony Fletcher; John Guy

Opis

Drawing upon vivid court records and newspaper advertisements, this study challenges traditional views of married life in eighteenth-century England. It reveals husbands' and wives' expectations and experiences of marriage to expose the extent of co-dependency between spouses. The book, therefore, presents a new picture of power in marriage and the household. It also demonstrates how attitudes towards adultery and domestic violence evolved during this period, influenced by profound shifts in cultural attitudes about sexuality and violence.

Recenzje

Review of the hardback: 'This book successfully meets it's claim to be "a pioneering account of the expectations and experiences of married life among the middle and labouring ranks in the long eighteenth century. ... an excellent analysis of the crazy and changing popular assumptions about male and female bodies which underlines domestic violence. ... full of interesting, minutely researched, historical detail ... a fascinating work for the general reader, and a neccessary work for historians of marriage.' INTAMS

Spis treści

1. Introduction: assessing marriage; 2. 'To have and to hold': analysing married life; 3. 'For better, for worse': resolving marital difficulties; 4. 'An honourable estate': marital roles in the household; 5. 'With all my worldly goods I thee endow': spouses' contributions and possessions within marriage; 6. 'Wilt thou obey him and serve him': the marital power balance; 7. 'Forsaking all other': marital chastity; 8. 'Till death us do part': life after a failed marriage; 9. 'Mutual society, help and comfort': conclusion; Bibliography.