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Lady Mary Chudleigh, 'To The Ladies
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Student’s Name Instructor Course Date Lady Mary Chudleigh, 'To The Ladies Literature Survey The social, economic, and legal status of women was a trending topic in England most of the 17th and 18th centuries. The image of women and her emancipation was well depicted through both imaginative and theoretical literature in this period. Women in these centuries were not able to express their views on issues affecting women through literature dues to the lack of education for most women during the time. This can be seen from the feminist movement in the 18th century, where men wrote most of the literature championing women's rights. A prime example being The Ladies Calling, which was published anonymously and thought to be written by Lady Parkington, where it was later found to be written by Richard Allestree, who was a professor of Theology at Christ Church College. Though this is the case, women have been known to write poems portraying different issues affecting them throughout history. When women started championing their rights through literature and poetry, they did it anonymously, like in the case of Sophia Pamphlets, which revolutionalized the feminist movement in 1739. The writer of the pamphlets has remained controversial up to date, with many suggesting that it can be a woman as the author is aware of her oppression and disadvantages she faces just because she is a woman. As time went by, the need for women to hide while advocating for their rights through literature was foregone with a good example being the case of Alice Duer Miller, a political poet who published poems like Are

Name 2 women people? And Women are people in the early 20th century (Chapman and Mills). Alice’s poems were mostly published in the New York Tribune, which mainly addressed the government's lack of commitment to ensuring equal rights among women. Introduction "To the Ladies," a poem by Lady Mary Chudleigh, was written in the 17th century, which exemplifies the tone of the poem because a woman wrote it in a tough historical period where many women couldn't express their opinions. The writer was born in August 1656 in Winslade, Devon. She was married to Sir George Chudleigh, with her biographers arguing that her poems were a way of addressing her unhappiness in the marriage and the role of women in marriages at the time. Her unhappiness in her marriage is well depicted in her poem “To The Ladies," where she uses a depressing tone when demonstrating how marriage is servitude for women. In her poem, Lady Mary Chudleigh depicts in some of the poem lines how she felt trapped in her marriage with no way out. Though her husband allowed her to publish various several feminist works of literature works, many references in her poems indicated the woes in her marriage were mainly due to her personal experiences with a dominant male who way her husband. Lady Mary Chudleigh, like most women in her time, was less educated and educated herself by reading widely in various subjects such as theology, philosophy, and science. She was one of the first women to identify the challenges women faced in the male-dominated world at the time. She mostly advocated for women's education and marriage reforms as she believed people should be treated equally despite their gender. She was the voice of women at the time with her writing poems to critique poems and other literature that promoted male domination. A good example is the poem "The Ladies Defence," which was a direct attack on John Sprint, the

Name 3 author of The Bride Woman’s Counsellor, which encouraged women to be submissive to their husbands. Close Textual Analysis Lady Mary Chudleigh used this poem to share her views on male superiority by comparing the different roles of men and women at the time. She uses it to signify how marriage is a trap for women in the male-dominated society they live in. Lady Mary Chudleigh, in this poem, feels trapped in her marriage, leading her to confide in the poem. At the time, it was presumed that women married at a very young age with the unions been planned and, in some cases, forced. A woman’s role at the time was to bear children for the man. She feels trapped with no way out of the marriage as she states in her first sentence that says "when that fatal knot which nothing, nothing can divide," showing that it was impossible to leave her marriage unless by death. This poem is written by a woman who is depressed in her marriage in a sorrowful tone indicating how sad she was in the life she was living. Mary did not use Pathos in her poem, opting to end the poem with words of advice rather than positivity. Pathos is a literary device used to show negativity in the beginning but later on bringing positivity at the end, which helps exemplify values and emotions. At the end of the poem, she says that "value your selves and men despise, you must be proud, if you'll be wise," where she offers advice to women on how to deal with their dominant husbands based on her experience.

Chudleigh uses an illusion to compare her husband with God as she states in her line, "In fear, her husband as a God still must serve him still obey, and nothing as in nothing say but what her haughty Lord thinks fit who with the power has all the wit." This well illustrates how Lady Mary Chudleigh views her husband cowering and fearing his husband's word. This illustration helps connect the reader with the poem's narrator experiences as they can relate to their fear of God. This illustration helps the reader get the poet's perspective quickly by viewing their situation from their own eyes.

Name 4 The poem depicts the tension between the role of women and the patriarchal society at the time. She metaphorically compares the role of a wife in those times to that of a servant. Throughout the poem, she acknowledges how women are viewed as inferior, with their only tasks in marriage been to obey and serve their husbands. She even describes how marriage leads to the death of a woman's freedom. Lady Mary Chudleigh also uses the poem to criticize the challenges marriage puts on women on their liberty and independence going to the extent of warning women not to get married. The central theme of the poem is marriage been a form of submission of a woman. She depicts how a husband gets total control over her woman once they undertake the marriage vows. The poem mainly shows how marriage makes men more superior to women as marriage is for life with no way of women expressing their views or opinions. The use of metaphor in the poem is well utilized, with it been used to relate the role of a wife to slavery as depicted in line one. The word "obey" is also used twice in the poem, which is a form of emphasis. "Obey" is used in line five as a synecdoche to represent the vows and the phrase "I do," said at the wedding ceremony. This word is used to show that a woman agrees to obey her husband after taking her marriage vows to get a normal life in exchange for her submission. The poem is lyrical as the writer uses her emotions to portray her feelings and perception towards marriage rather than just telling a story. The poem also has an "AABB" rhyming scheme proving that it is a lyrical poem.

Conclusion Lady Mary’s poem “To The Ladies” sheds light on issues affecting today’s society on the role of a woman in marriage and whether there should be gender equality in terms of their roles.

Name 5 Although the roles of women in the time the poem was written was so much bad women still struggle today on what is required of them once married. This poem opens up on the role of women in advocating for gender equality using literature rather than orally. The literary devices used in the poem, such as metaphors, did a great job in helping the reader understand and see marriage from the writer’s perspective, making it easily understandable.

Name 6 Work Cited Chudleigh, Lady Mary. “To the Ladies by Lady Mary Chudleigh.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, Web. 10 May. 2020. .

Chapman, Mary, and Angela Mills. Treacherous Texts: An Anthology of U.S. Suffrage Literature, 1846-1946. Rutgers UP, 2011. "Lady Mary Chudleigh." PoemHunter.com: Poems - Quotes - Poetry, www.poemhunter.com/lady-mary-chudleigh/biography. Mills, Rebecca M. "Mary, Lady Chudleigh (1656– 1710): Poet, Protofeminist and Patron." Women and Poetry, 1660–1750, 2003, pp. 50-59. . SOPHIA, PERSON O. Woman Not Inferior to Man: Or, a Short and Modest Vindication of the Natural Right of the Fair-Sex to a Perfect Equality of Power, Dignity, and Esteem, with the Men. by Sophia, a Person of Quality. Gale Ecco, Print Editions, 2018. The Ladies Calling ... By the author of the Whole Duty of Man i.e. R. Allestree. Formerly attributed to Lady Pakington, or Archbishop Sterne . ... Second impression. 1675...