offering of vows, the beginning of marriage. It is very important to remind us that we are talking about a wifes servitude and not a slaves. Without this reminder that Chudleigh is talking about speaking about a wife, the message she is trying to convey is weakened because we expect this type of servitude from a slave in 1703. You can slip back and forth between wife and slave because both are treated as possessions and not as people.Chudleigh invites us to see some interaction between husband and wife. She articulates how submissive a wife can be by saying that a wife is "governed by a nod" (15). This demonstrates the simplistic, servant like nature a wife will exhibit to her husband and his expectations of her submissiveness towards him. The husband expects his wife to obey him by a nod of his head. This pomposity a husband displays in the way he acknowledges his wife is recognized in other parts of the poem when he is referred to as "law supreme" (6), "eastern prince" (9) and "god" (16). The simplicity of a nod is condescending and lowers the importance of a wife to the value of a servant or slave in 1703.Through the wifes submissive actions a clear connection is drawn between her and a servant. In the servant/master relationship a servants actions toward his/her master are agreeable and passive. Actions such as quiet compliance and complete loyalty. These actions, that are so agreeable and passive, are highlighted as qualities that are found and expected from a wife. Twice, quiet compliance is mentioned. First, the wife is referred to as a "mute" (13). "Mute" extends past quiet compliance and tends to forced compliance. When a people are medically mute, it means they are unable to speak. Speaking is not an option, just as it is not for the wife, "nothing act, and nothing say" (18), if she speaks when she is not supposed to she is out of line, or if she questions her husbands authority it is unacceptable. This situa...
