Frances Power Cobbe's essay on the property of married women under the British Common Law was very striking. She criticizes the movement through lengthy, detailed paragraphs but also offers realistic scenarios (for the time), poetry and a very thought provoking allegory at the beginning. The last quote of the allegorical sequence managed to encapsulate what we have discussed in class and through our readings:
"Pardon me; I muse seem to you so stupid! Why is the property of the woman who commits Murder, and the property of the woman who commits Matrimony, dealt with alike by your law?"
Women were not given any ownership over their home, children or themselves and this comment addresses that with blunt irony and truth. Like criminals, married women are stripped of their property. This comment strings together a seemingly positive thing (marriage) with an obviously heinous act (murder) to describe the sacrifice of women who marry.
The phrase "commits Matrimony" strips any flowery connotations one may have with the marriage. Sure, it is an allegory and by definition is supposed to have hidden meaning but it introduces Cobbe's attack on Common Law very nicely. Later in the essay, she goes on to compare the marital union to tarantulas who "gobbles" their companion once put together. Together, the examples helped me unscramble the lengthy paragraphs and find meaning to the author's argument.
