A Literary Analysis of the Institution of Marriage in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

Marriage, in the eighteenth century, was not geared for a woman's happiness or advancement. In an age where the majority of women did not have a literary voice, few women writers analyzed their social roles in the institution of marriage. Mary Astell in "Some Reflections upon Marriage" and Lady Wortley Montague in the poem "The Lover: A Ballad" write of their liberal attitudes toward marriage. On the other hand, Daniel Defoe's attitude in his literary work "Roxanna" is traditional yet realistic.

In "Some Reflections upon Marriage," Mary Astell criticizes marriage as a financial institution yet women do marry for love. She doesn't only assume a man marries a woman for her monetary worth. Astell believes that in an age where society's interests lie within the accumulation of wealth, man is a direct representation of this society. In support of this notion she states:

"But though an estate is to be considered, it should not be the main, much less the only consideration; for happiness does not depend on wealth."
(Reflections, 1938-9)

For Astell, marriage is a rigid institution. Women do not have the freedom of choice to choose their own husband despite the fact they can refuse the man arranged. She states, "But alas! What poor woman is ever taught that she should have a higher design than to get her a husband?" (Reflections 1940) In addition, Astell believes education is at fault because it teaches men to believe that women need to be controlled in marriage and, if they wanted to pursue an education, they might be "too wise, and too good for the men" (Reflections, 1940).

Similarly, Lady Mary Wortley Montague in "The Lover: A Ballad," does not have a high opinion of romantic love even though she would like to have a high opinion of it. The young suitors who desire her are empty and materialistic. For the basis of marriage, she believes her ideal lover should also be her friend, he should be proper to his principles and faithful. Like Astell, she assumes the ideal lover like the ideal marriage is impossible to find.

In contrast to Astell, Montague personalizes her writing assuming that a good marriage is dependent upon a man's profound and appreciative nature. She states,

"No pedant yet learned, not rakebelly gay
Or laughing because he has nothing to say,
To all my sex obliging and free,
Yet never be found of any but me."
(Reflections 17-20)

Montague, like Astell, "puts her trust in education and reason, not in the opinions of others, and she always insists on preserving her freedom of choice. She need not deter to a man who is less than her equal. She must look to her satisfaction before she looks to his; and she always has the right to say no" (Norton Anthology 1972).

Finally, Defoe's "Roxanna" on one level, represents a prostitute's desire for financial liberty without constraints of marriage. Roxanna pursues her own ambitions contrary to which roles society expects women to play since her profession is the oldest in the world. Roxanna must also be pleased with her decision.

Like Astell and Montague, Roxanna believes in the principle of freedom of choice as it relates to happiness. All three writers agree that unhappiness in a marriage is the result of the marriage contract. Roxanna states:

"... the marriage contract was, in short, nothing but giving
up liberty, estate, authority, and everything to the man, and
the woman was indeed a mere woman ever after - that is to say,
a slave" (Roxanna 1945).

However Defoe's voice is initially traditionalist and chauvinistic. Contrary to Astell and Montague, he assumes that "... the labor of woman was appointed to make the woman live quiet and unconcerned in the world" (Roxanna 1945). Contrary to Astell and Montague, Defoe believes Roxanna's ambitions of wanting to be financially independent upset a marriage where man has financial and social control and woman are defined as having no interest, aim or view but all is the interest, aim and view of the husband. (Roxanna 1946)

While Roxanna represents the false objectives of desiring financial independence and of freedom of choice in other sectors of life, Defoe's traditionalist voice concerning marriage is stated by Roxanna's lover. However, his voice merges with Roxanna's argument in that Defoe believes a woman should think realistically about her goals.

In conclusion, Astell, Montague and Defoe represent forerunner thinkers of their time because they express their views against women in a traditional marriage from a social and economic point of view.

Works Cited

Norton Anthology of English Literature, Vol 1. ed. M. H. Abrams. Princeton: Univ. of Princeton Press, 1972