I told him I had, perhaps, different notions of matrimony from what the received custom had given us of it; that I thought a woman was a free agent as well as a man, and was born free, and, could she manage herself suitably, might enjoy that liberty to as much purpose as the men do; that the laws of matrimony were indeed otherwise, and mankind at this time acted quite upon other principles, and those such that a woman gave herself entirely away from herself, in marriage, and capitulated, only to be, at best, but an upper servant, and from the time she took the man she was no better or worse than the servant among the Israelites, who had his ears boredthat is, nailed to the door-postwho by that act gave himself up to be a servant during life; that the very nature of 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 afterthat is to say, a slave.
About This Quote
About Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe was English writer, merchant and spy. Daniel Defoe was an English writer, merchant and spy. He is most famous for his novel Robinson Crusoe, was published in 1719. Read more on Wikipedia →
Themes
- Marriage — Partnership, commitment, and the journey of shared life