Amy Manning

 

The Ploughman’s Wife

 

Main Point: The story of a loving, devoted, and hardworking daughter, sister, wife, and mother as related by her doting, oldest son. [good, but could add that this is an idealized portrait, suitably ideal to match Edme and no doubt reflecting the ideal image of woman described in Charleton]

 

Evidence: Her son vividly recounts his mother’s, Barbare, sacrificial and submissive attitude, and actions towards her family.  Barbare gladly does as her father bids and works tirelessly while toiling in abject poverty to make life more pleasant for him.  Her refusal of the wealthy man who jilted her sister evidences her unwavering loyalty to her family.  As a wife she devotes herself wholly to the task of managing the household and invokes numerous changes, including greatly expanding the garden and keeping geese and ducks, to the extreme benefit of her family and the honor of her husband.  She works for the good of the family even in her leisure often sewing or mending clothes for her children or husband.  As a mother, she quietly bore the harsh and undeserved criticisms of her stepdaughters, while mentioning none of their nasty comments to their father.  She devotes herself to her own children as well and tirelessly provides for their every need.  Her family is her only concern and it is “a pleasure rather than an occupation” to ensure their welfare.  [Barbe gives her children to wet nurses so that she can continue to bear more children.  Thus Barbe is continually pregnant until her forties and is forced to work extremely hard and bear children most of her life.  It is evident through this sacrifice that Barbe completely respects the wishes of her husband and does as he sees fit.]

 

M. I. T.: After his grandfather challenges Nicolas to prove his love for his mother, Nicolas willingly and readily places his hand in the fire to evidence his deep love for her. [poetic license; an example of dramatic sentimentalism?  Or reality?  View this as a problem to consider, resolve, or question.]

 

Connections:  The popular views of woman as subordinate to men and as the weaker sex are clearly propagated in this biography, which connects this piece to the Bonnie Smith article as well as to the article by D. G. Charlton. [good, RS emphasis added.] Women are seen as dependent on men for their survival and happiness.  Yet as both articles point out and as the author of this work alludes to, women are not displeased with this view rather they are all to happy to place their lives in the hands of men and stick to housework. [qualify: at least according to the image of the ideal woman. Can you present evidence about how women really felt?  This is often difficult to find.] Men and women are interdependent and rely on one another to survive.  In The Ploughman’s Wife and the articles by Smith and Charlton, both men and women are pleased with this relationship and often happy, successful marriages are the result. [reconsider: Charlton writes about the new ideal image of family, children, and women; the Ploughman’s wife seems a clear illustration of the effort of propagation of this new ideal. In many respects, Restif’s writing needs to be seen as stretching the truth to make an ideological point: hence a representation more than an accurate biography.] [The two new articles reveal that the Retif family was a very well of peasant family and that Edme Retif commanded the respect of the entire village.  He was the seigniorial judge and thus had a measure of power within the political structure of the village.  He used the disciplinary system of rewards and punishments and was far less inclined to whip his children.  However, he did whip them as he felt necessary and thus the family was clearly fearful of him.  He arranged the marriages of his children in much the same fashion as his father did and kicked some of his daughters out of the house after he realized they had mistreated his new wife.  Also intrinsic in his role of patriarch was his function as mass media of the household.  Throughout dinner, Edme’s voice would be the one heard and he would read from the Bible or relate some current events.  All of these points substantiate the reading I have previously done.]

 

Promptings/Reflections: Nicolas clearly adored his mother.  Throughout the entire selection, not one negative word or implication is written against his mother.  The entire story enshrines his mother as a woman to be modeled, an excellent example to all woman of what a mother and wife ought to be.  Clearly, his mother embodied all of the qualities, such as thriftiness and submissiveness that were societal expectations of women.  [Although Nicolas adopts a very patriarchal view of the social order, he identified strongly with his mother and women in general.  He grew to fear and even hate men as a result of the domineering position his father undertook with him.  This led in part to his continually pursuing women.  His inability to restrain himself from sexual escapades chafes him to no end, yet he is unable to conquer his “sinful” desires. This is Poster’s interpretation, right?  Contrast Le Roy Ladurie.]   

 

Evaluation: A very interesting piece that provides a unique look at how a mother was viewed in the eighteenth century through the eyes of her eldest son [through an idealizing lens].  Well-written and easy to follow it reads almost like a novel and was a fascinating glimpse into how widespread and pervasive cultural ideas of womanhood were at the time.

 

P. T.: Marriage was considered a sanctity and was an institution not easily escapable.  However, Barbare meets Edme and three days later agrees to marry him: shortly after that, they are married.  The swiftness of this undertaking is surprising and perplexing given the serious nature that sounds the marriage vows.  [Marriages did not last long and thus stepparents were commonplace.  This resulted in children’s games, such as “step-mother,” which protested the ill treatment often received at the hands of these substitute parents. Good addition.  The Past is a foreign country.] 

 

Key Terms: “mother” “wife” “husband” “father”  These are important terms because they determine the behavior society expects from them and the attitude society displays towards them as well as the social role they are expected to fill. [Indeed, these terms have different meanings and expectations, depending up many things: time period, social class, etc.  So when using them, we must define what we think they meant at the time and in the eyes of whomever we’re studying.]

 

 

Amy: In many ways this is a very good example of a thoughtful abstract and “reading.”.  The strong points include the specificity and precision of your discussion and language; your recognition of the insights into MFL offered by Smith and especially Charleton.  In so doing you begin to show how you are coming to understand MFL and its characters in terms of the 18^th century ideas, ideals, and expectations of men and women, as opposed to our ideas and attitudes today and to a belief that everything in the text was truthful and accurate.  Le Roy Ladurie argues that much can be learned about the reality of peasant life from MFL, and his article endeavors to show how this is true.  Similarly, Poster uses MFL and another one by the same author (Monsieur Nicolas) to try to establish some aspects of the realities of family and community life in 18^th century Burgundy.  If we draws on Charleton, however, we are led to view MFL in a different light, that of the newly emerging ideals for family, the child, women as wives and mothers, and, somewhat less developed, men as husbands and fathers.  Here we are clearly in the world of “representations” as opposed to everyday realities, the realm of ideas as opposed to the actual patterns of family life, the “ought” as opposed to the “is.”