ON THE DUTIES OF A WOMAN

A woman should be a harmony of prudence and temperance. Her soul should be zealous to acquire virtue; so that she may be just, brave, prudent, frugal, and hating vain-glory. Furnished with these virtues, she will, when she become a wife act worthily towards herself, her husband, her children and her family. Frequently also such a woman will act beautifully towards cities, if she happens to rule over cities and nations, as we see is sometimes the case in a kingdom. If she subdues desire and anger, there will be produced a divine symphony. She will not be pursued by illegal loves, being devoted to her husband, children and family. Women fond of connections with outside man come to hate their families, both the free members, and the slaves. They also plot against their husbands, falsely representing them as the calumniators of all their acquaintance, so that they alone may appear benevolent; and they govern their families in a way such as may be expected from lovers of indolence.

Such conduct leads to the destruction of everything common to husband and wife.

The body should also be trained to moderation in food, clothes, baths, massage, hairdressing and jewelry adornment. Sumptuous eating, drinking, garments and keepsakes involve them in every crime, and faithlessness to their husband and everybody else. It is sufficient to satisfy hunger and thirst, and this from easily accessible things; and protect themselves from the cold by garments of the simplest description. It is quite a vice to feed on things brought from distant countries, and bought at a great price. It is also great folly to search after excessively elegant garments, made brilliant with purple or other precious colors.

The body itself demands no more than to be saved from cold and nakedness, for the sake (of) propriety, and that is all it needs. Men's opinions, combined with ignorance, demands inanities and superfluities. No woman should be decorated with gold, nor gems from India, nor any other country, nor plait her hair artistically, nor be perfumed with Arabian perfumes, nor paint her face so that it may be more white or more red, nor give a dark tinge to her eyebrows and her eyes, nor artificially dye her gray hair, nor bathe continually. A woman of this sort is hunting a spectator of female intemperance. The beauty produced by prudence, and not by these particulars, pleases women that are well born. Neither should she consider it necessary to be noble, rich b--- in a great city, glory, have glory, and the friendship of renowned or royal men. The presence of such should not cause her annoyance, but should they be absent, she should not regret them; their absence will not hinder the prudent woman from living properly. Her soul should not anxiously dream about them, but ignore them. They are really more harmful than beneficial, as they mislead to misfortune; inevitable are treachery, envy and calumny, so that their possessor cannot be free from perturbation.

She should venerate the Gods, thereby hoping to achieve felicity, also by obeying the laws and sacred institutions of her country. After the gods, she should honor and venerate her parents, who cooperate with the gods in benefiting their children.

Moreover she ought to live with her husband [legally] and kindly, claiming nothing as her own property, but preserving and protecting his bed; this protection contains all. things. In a be---ring manner she should bear any stroke of fortune that may strike her husband; whether he is unfortunate in business, or makes ignorant mistakes, is sick, intoxicated, or has connection with other women. This last is a privilege granted to men, but not to women, since they are punished for this offence. She must submit to the law with equanimity, without jealousy. She should likewise patiently bear his anger, his parsimony, complaints he may make of his destiny, his jealousy, his accusations of here and whatever other faults he may inherit from his nature. All these she should cheerfully endure, conducting herself towards him with prudence and modesty. A wife who is dear to her husband, and who truly performs her duty towards him, is a domestic harmony, and loves the whole of her family, to which also she conciliates the benevolence of strangers.

If however she loves neither her husband nor her children, nor her servants, nor wishes to see any sacrifice preserved, then she becomes the herald of every kind of destruction, which she likewise prays for, as being an enemy, and also prays for the death of her husband, as being hostile to him, in order that she may be connected with other men; and in the last place she hates whatever her husband loves.

But a wife will be a domestic harmony if she is full of prudence and modesty. For then she will love not only her husband, but also her children, her kindred, her servants, and the whole of her family, among which she numbers her possessions, friends, fellow citizens, and strangers. Their bodies she will adorn without any superfluous ornaments, and will both speak and hear such things only as are beautiful and good. She should conform to her husband's opinion in respect to their common life, and be satisfied with those relatives and friends as meet his approbation. Unless she is entirely devoid of harmony she will consider pleasant or disagreeable such things which are thought so by her husband.