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A Married State

Katherine Phillips' poem 'A Married State' humorously advises women against marriage, portraying husbands and children as sources of distress. It suggests that remaining single allows women to focus on their spiritual well-being, while also critiquing societal expectations of marriage. The poem employs a playful tone with rhyming couplets and iambic pentameter, ultimately challenging traditional views on love and marriage.

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1K views25 pages

A Married State

Katherine Phillips' poem 'A Married State' humorously advises women against marriage, portraying husbands and children as sources of distress. It suggests that remaining single allows women to focus on their spiritual well-being, while also critiquing societal expectations of marriage. The poem employs a playful tone with rhyming couplets and iambic pentameter, ultimately challenging traditional views on love and marriage.

Uploaded by

1rameenshahzad2021
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Katherine Phillips

 A Married State is a playful piece of advice to


the reader, advising against getting married.
Husbands and children are, according to the
poem, the source of all women’s problems. She
advises women to stay single, and stay happy
and "innocent".
 It ends on a more sinister note, however, as
it tells the reader "there’s no such thing as
leading apes in hell". This is an English
proverb on the fate of an old maid – women
who did not marry. It is sinister because of
what it is contradicting.
 It also suggests that women did not have
the power to refuse marriage at the time
the poem was written: it was a woman’s
duty to marry and have children.
 The reference to hell suggests it is even her
religious duty to get married. Philips subtly
plays against this by suggesting remaining
unmarried will allow a woman to stay
focused on her "prayers".
 Phillip’s poem probably seemed daring or
modern in the 17th Century when marriage
was considered a traditional part of life for
most women.

 However in the 21st Century the poem


seems quite old fashioned by suggesting
that a single woman should not have sex.
 The poem is made of 8 pairs of rhyming
couplets. The rhyme is not perfect: "ears"
and "prayers" do not quite rhyme, but there
is a half-rhyme.
“A married state affords but little ease,
The best of husbands are so hard to
please,”

“No children’s cries to offend your ears,


Few worldly crosses to distract your
prayers,”
 The use of rhyming couplets and plain
speaking style (compared to other 17th
century poems) make the poem feel light
hearted and witty, like clever banter
 The metre is iambic pentameter: there are
ten syllables to every line.

 This is a very strong and simple rhythm


and rhyme scheme, which is
characteristic of Philips’s style of poetry.
 The combination of rhyming couplets and
iambic pentameter is known as ‘heroic
couplets’. It is a traditional form in English
poetry.

“This in wifes careful faces you may


spell,
Tho they disemble their misfortunes
well,”

 At the beginning of the poem, each couplet


is a complete unit, with sentences finishing
at the end of the pair.
“No blustering husbands to create your
fears,
No pangs of childbirth to extort your tears,”
“No child’s cry to offend your ears,”

“Few wordly crosses to distract your


prayers,”
 As the poem progresses this becomes less
regular, with the use of enjambment at "be
advised by me", demonstrating the main
break.

“Therefore , Madam, be advised by me


Turn, Turn apostate to love’s levity”
 This follows the structure of the ideas in the
poem, as it is the point where the reader is
advised not to get married – the
subversive message of the poem!
 The voice of the poet is clear and direct, it
advises the reader and speaks as one who
knows what she’s talking about.
I know what I
am talking
about. Stay
single and you
will be free. All
this talk of
leading apes in
hell is nonsense!
 It’s written in the second person and uses
“you” and “your” which gives it a more
personal and direct style
 The central image of the poem is of a single
woman free from “blustering husbands” the
“pangs of childbirth” and from “children’s
cries”
 Religious imagery: Husband and children
are presented as “worldly crosses” that
distract women. The Metaphor draws on
the idea of carrying a cross/ cross to bear
 To remain a virgin is “crowned with much
content” i.e. happiness, implying that it is
better state to be in than marriage
 Wives are shown to have to “desemble” i.e.
pretend and hide their true feelings

I hate being
married!

I’m fine, I love being


married to you.
 She advises women to “Turn, turn apostate
on love’s levity” [An apostate is someone
who gives up their beliefs.] Note the use of
repetition, imperative voice and alliteration

Alliteration
“love’s
levity”

Repetition
“Turn,
Imperati turn”
ve (bossy
verb)
“Turn”
 It was thought old maids would end up
“leading apes in hell”. Phillips rejects this
traditional wisdom saying “There’s no such
things…”
Both suggest relationships destroy women
MS – without marriage “no blustering husbands... No pangs
of childbirth ... No children’s cries” – implied by the poet.
M – they destroy each other with their actions, LM“ out, out
dam spot” – madness, M, “I will not yield ... I throw my
warlike shield: lay on Macduff” – dies fighting

Men are too difficult to satisfy

MS- “the best of husbands are so hard to please”


M – “we scotched the snake not killed it” – he’s not happy.
There is more killing to be done.
Relationships are destructive:
 Human Interest: He stabs her and ends up “banged up”
 “A Married State affords but little ease” (It sucks basically)
 Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are both destroyed by their love for
one another; they both die
Voice
 Human Interest is from a man’s point of view
 A Married State is from a woman’s point of view.
 In both poems men come off badly
 Macbeth is told in a more detached voice. Though both husband
and wife come off badly. Lady M is manipulative and Macbeth is
ruthless, impressionable and unable to stand up to her

***All three texts are written in iambic pentameter


Conclusion
All three texts challenge traditional
beliefs, ideas and mythology about love.
Love certainly does not triumph, does not
conquer all, prince charming does not
come along and save the day! On the
contrary...

None of these texts show a positive


image of marriage or partnership!

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