Majority unhappy marriage appear in women because of an unfair society in the past, but even in today’s society there’s still unhappy marriage exist. However, women in today’s society appear to have more dignity than in the past, at least they have right to say “NO!” and made their own decision because of the word “Respect.”
In the story “Female Ingenuity” from Fictions of Authority by Susan Sniader Lanser, she argued that the wife need to show the letter to the husband before she allow to send it out to her best friend. Because of that she forces to write in 2 versions, one is positive to show her husband and one is negative and that’s the actual letter and the letter she want to tell her friend. In the 1st letter, she said “I tell you my dear husband is one of the most amiable of men, I have been married seven weeks, and have never found the least reason to repent the day that joined us, my husband is in person and manners far from resembling ugly, crass, old, disgreeable, and jealous monsters, who think by confining to secure; a wife, it is his maxim to treat as a bosom-friend and confidatn, and not as a play thing or menial slave, the woman chosen to be his companion. Neither party he says ought to obey implicitly;–but each yield to the other by turns–” (page 9 middle paragraph). The sentence “far from resembling ugly, crass, old, disgreeable, and jealous monsters” the wife is actually saying her husband is instead of not and the meaning is hiding undearneath it.
However, in 2nd version of the letter which is the actual one. The wife wrote “I tell you my dear I have been married seven weeks, and repent the day that joined us, my husband is ugly, crass, old, disagreeable, and jealous[;]a wife, it is his maxim to treat as a play thing or menial slave, the woman he says ought to obey implicitly;–” (page 10 1st paragraph). The wife is telling her true feeling on her husband and her marriage.
If you compared the 2 versions, you will find that on the 1st letter the wife meant to write in truth but the words that she choose totally change the whole meaning. But at the end, which letter did she sent out?
Certainly, women did not have rights as they have now, They were believed to be subordinates to their husbands. And that they should fully submit to their husbands. Anything a woman does in marriage is believed to have an influence on how society will define her husbands family not hers. Female Ingenuity” from Fictions of Authority by Susan Sniader Lanser, is one important literature that describe this major problem that exist in households at the time and even now in some few families. She did want to write to her friend about her experience but had no authority to do that without the husbands consent. Her writing two versions to me was not necessary because, the praises that was in the one she showed her husband was too good to be true and any deep minded reader should sense that the content of that was too good to be true for that period she had stayed in the marriage. But I guess its a good thing she did what she did because you and I might not have been able to “deep think” to know what really happen.