Katherine Philips-A Married State-03/28

The poem, A Married State, by Katherine Phillips exemplifies the struggles that women face with getting married and encountering the difficulties of life as a married woman. She speaks of how women are miserable with married life and that they must listen to their husbands in submissive entirety, “A married state affords but little ease The best of husbands are so hard to please.” (746). Women will be subject to constant attempts at pleasing their husbands to little success. Virginity is mentioned in this work as a woman’s saving grace from marriage because the pains of childbirth are avoided and women are free from any responsibilities, “A virgin state is crowned with much content; It’s always happy as it’s innocent. No blustering husbands to create your fears; No pangs of childbirth to extort your tears…” (746). During Philips’ time, in the 1600s, most of women’s poetry celebrated a single life for a woman which is why this is the central theme of the poem to illustrate that women should have the right to choose their own direction for their lives. Later on in the poem, Philips speaks of the evils of losing one’s virginity and that it causes a woman many pains and troubles for the rest of her days, “Attend one matrimony and a husband too… Suppress wild nature if she dare rebel.” (747). She indicates that the losing of a woman’s virginity begins her slavery to marriage. At the end of this poem, Philips points out that it is difficult for a woman to avoid these sexual desires and that the fate for women who stay alone all their lives is not particularly happy, “There’s no such thing as leading apes in hell” but she points out that at least then women would not be slaves to married life and can be independent (747).