The Anatomy of Melancholy

Do not spread the blame of a few upon all.

They must not condemn everyone because of a few.

As there are many bad wives, there are also some good ones; as some are vicious, some are virtuous. Read what Solomon has said in their praise in Proverbs 13, and Sirach, chapters 26 and 30: “Blessed is the man who has a virtuous wife, for the number of his days shall be doubled. A virtuous woman gladdens her husband, and she shall fill the years of his life with peace. A good wife is a good portion”; and, in 36:24, “a helper, a pillar of rest”—“supports of tranquillity.”

He who takes a wife gains both a brother and a sister.

And at verse 30: “He who has no wife wanders to and fro mourning.” “Dark cares are lessened by a wife.” Women are the one and only joy and comfort of a man’s life, born “for men’s use and delight,” “the mainstays of the household.”

The delights of humankind, the comforts of life, The caresses of night, the gentlest care of day, Men’s desire, young men’s hope, and so on.

A wife is a young man’s mistress, a middle-aged man’s companion, an old man’s nurse; “a partner in joys and sorrows,” a support, a help, and so on.

A man’s best possession is a loving wife, Soothing his anger and turning his spirit from sadness.

A man’s best possession is a loving wife; She softens anger and turns aside all strife.

There is no joy, no comfort, no sweetness, no pleasure in the world like that of a good wife:

Than when a dear wife and faithful husband Live together at home in harmony—says our Latin Homer.

She is always the same in sickness and in health: his eye, his hand, his intimate friend, his partner at every moment, his other self. No calamity can separate them; she is ready to share every sorrow and distress, and, as Indian women do, to live and die with him—indeed, even to die immediately for him.

When Admetus, king of Thessaly, lay on his deathbed, Apollo’s oracle told him that if he could find anyone to die for him, he would live longer. But everyone refused: his parents, “though aged and infirm,” his friends and his followers abandoned him. His wife Alcestis, though young, most willingly undertook it. What more can be desired or expected?

And although, on the other side, there are countless bad husbands—I could rail outright against some of them—enough to discourage any woman, there are also some good ones, most faithful to the obligations of marriage.