Piwai H.R.Dakwa

History 101

Mr Schwartz

 [RS emphasis in yellow; RS comments in red]

Abstract for ‘A Ploughman’s Wife’

 

Main Point/Argument :The main point of this chapter is to portray the characteristics of an ideal woman in eighteenth century France and the submissiveness women had to practice in all situations. [good, succinct and forceful.]  The chapter also focuses on the happiness that women could have derived from the lifestyle they led and their regard for men as superior beings.  If I was going to make an oral presentation I would want to focus on this supposed happiness and actually argue as to whether or not it is really happiness.  [An excellent idea because it is a fascinating problem.  Although we rarely have direct evidence of inner feelings from the lower classes, we can try to tease out the answer from what evidence is available, always being careful to qualify our conclusions.] After reading Charleton’s articles The Age of Innocence and The New Eve, I changed my view of the main point in A Ploughnan’s Wife.  The chapter is portraying the emerging [ideal]view of women as ‘guardians of tender loving morality’ and the view of marriage as a union of love rather than the previous negative views of women and the idea of arranged marriages for social convenience.

Evidence :Nicholas Rétif de la Brettone portrays his mother as fautless and he calls her a ‘model wife who fulfilled all her obligations to her country, her husband, her children, her servants’(pg145). According to the chapter, Barbere was perfect in every way even before she  got married.  She was a good daughter as well as a good sibling and she obeyed but at the same time stated her point in a polite manner if she did not agree.  Her father also saw her as perfect and ‘wrongfully named’.  Barbere took care of her husband and even tolerated the mistreatment she received from his children from the former marriage.  Being perfect in every way, it is not surprising that she was an asset to her marriage to Edme and her economical consumptions yielded profits.  She had great respect for her husband and considered men to be ‘the first sex’(pg166).  Barbare had a ‘choice’ where marriage was concerned-she chose not to marry the man who had deserted her sister.  The fact that she was actually permitted to make this choice reinforces the new main point that marriages were now occurring for love not convenience.  It is also interesting to note how although Nicholas Edme was still a child there was a lot of concern about his behaviour in the family and he received a significant amount of attention.  This further illustrates the ‘new’ image of family life that was growing in the eighteenth century where children were not ignored but nurtured by their parents.  Rather than the fostering that took place during the seventeenth century, mothers cared for their infants now and fed them from their breasts. [Excellent connection]

Most Interesting Thing :I found the way in which Barbere was almost idolised to be every interesting.  Since I personally do not really believe in role models I think it is interesting to notice that a fellow human being could be held in such high esteem by others.  The priest even refers to her as ‘one of his flock , whose true worth, beauty even, he exlted, as well as her double devotion as a daughter and to God’(pg155).This phrase brought to me images of someone almost looked upon like the Virgin Mary by those who knew her ! [Good idea; take it further.  Recall Bonnie Smith section on the image of womanhood.]

Connections :After reading both of Charleton’s articles-The Age of Innocence and The New Eve, I see Nicholas Rétif de la Brettone’s account of his mother’s life as reinforcement of what Charleton is trying to say. [Okay, good, but add another sentence to state what he is trying to say.]

 Promptings /Reflections :I am beginning to realise that perhaps feminism does not really bring happiness for women.  Barbere seems to me to have much happier than any ‘independent’ woman I know. [Interesting.  Consider trying to discover what “happiness” was thought to mean in the 18^th century, and whether it varied by gender and by social class.]

Evaluations :I definitely prefered reading A Ploughman’s Wife to the other chapters of My Father’s Life.This chapter was more pleasant and fantasy-like and gave me a chance to gain a deeper understanding of how one might have found pleasure from being submissive and ladylike in the eighteenth century !

Perplexing Thing :I am deeply confused about how anyone can be portrayed as such a perfect being.  It is one thing that Barbere loved her husband but quite another that she almost ‘worshipped’ him.  The description on page 162 rather disturbed me : Barbere says ; ‘A man like you is very precious and taking care of you must be our first consideration,’  I am also amazed at how Barbere and her husband only seemed to tell their children good things and brought them up not educating them about mistakes and misfortune and imperfection-perhaps they had none. [Not as perplexing when you recall how this is an idealized portrait of a writer’s mother.]

Key Terms/Vocabulary :piety [What about the key term “natural” as it was used by Restif?]

 

Piwai: From the very beginning you capture nicely the main message of this chapter and underscore that it is a portrait that was likely meant to conform to the image of the ideal woman espoused by Rousseau, other writers, and Restif as well.  You also present two very interesting ideas to pursue further, the notion of Barbe as a veritable Saint who in many ways reflects the Virgin Mary ideal; and the question of happiness: what did it mean at the time?  How could we find evidence for an answer?  Good prose, too: precise and clear.