The story of the English marriage is unique and eccentric. Long after the rest of Europe and neighbouring Scotland had reformed their marriage laws, England clung to the chaotic and contradictory laws of the medieval Church, making it all too easy to enter into a marriage but virtually impossible to end an unhappy one.
If England was a 'paradise for wives' it could only have been through the feistiness of the women. Married women were placed in the same legal category as lunatics. While Englishmen prided themselves on their devotion to liberty, their wives were no freer than slaves. It was a husband's jealously guarded right to beat his wife, as long as the stick was no bigger than his thumb. Only after 1882 could a married woman even retain her own property. But then marriage was all about property in a society which was both mercenary and violent, where a girl was virtually sold into marriage and a price was put on a wife's chastity.
With a cast of hundreds, from loyal and devoted wives in troubled times to those who featured in notorious trials for adultery, from abusive husbands whose excesses were only gradually curbed by the law to the modern phenomenon of the toxic wife, acclaimed historian Maureen Waller draws on intimate letters, diaries, court documents and advice books to trace the evolution of the English marriage. It is social history at its most revealing, astonishing and entertaining.
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A frank, salacious and often shocking portrait of an institution
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Book Description paperback. Condition: New. Language: ENG. Seller Inventory # 9781848544017
Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. The story of the English marriage is unique and eccentric. Long after the rest of Europe and neighbouring Scotland had reformed their marriage laws, England clung to the chaotic and contradictory laws of the medieval Church, making it all too easy to enter into a marriage but virtually impossible to end an unhappy one.If England was a paradise for wives it could only have been through the feistiness of the women. Married women were placed in the same legal category as lunatics. While Englishmen prided themselves on their devotion to liberty, their wives were no freer than slaves. It was a husband s jealously guarded right to beat his wife, as long as the stick was no bigger than his thumb. Only after 1882 could a married woman even retain her own property. But then marriage was all about property in a society which was both mercenary and violent, where a girl was virtually sold into marriage and a price was put on a wife s chastity. With a cast of hundreds, from loyal and devoted wives in troubled times to those who featured in notorious trials for adultery, from abusive husbands whose excesses were only gradually curbed by the law to the modern phenomenon of the toxic wife, acclaimed historian Maureen Waller draws on intimate letters, diaries, court documents and advice books to trace the evolution of the English marriage. It is social history at its most revealing, astonishing and entertaining. A frank, salacious and often shocking portrait of an institution Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9781848544017
Book Description Condition: new. Seller Inventory # c1a7e4fcd35cc0953d352e8b55442e13
Book Description Paperback / softback. Condition: New. New copy - Usually dispatched within 4 working days. A frank, salacious and often shocking portrait of an institution. Seller Inventory # B9781848544017
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Book Description Condition: New. A frank, salacious and often shocking portrait of an institution Num Pages: 448 pages, ill. BIC Classification: 1DBKE; HBJD1; HBTB; JHBK. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 201 x 129 x 26. Weight in Grams: 314. . 2010. Paperback. . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland. Seller Inventory # V9781848544017
Book Description Condition: New. A frank, salacious and often shocking portrait of an institution Num Pages: 448 pages, ill. BIC Classification: 1DBKE; HBJD1; HBTB; JHBK. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 201 x 129 x 26. Weight in Grams: 314. . 2010. Paperback. . . . . Seller Inventory # V9781848544017