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Literary
April 16, 1788
The New Hampshire Gazette And General Advertiser
Portsmouth, Rockingham County, New Hampshire
What is this article about?
A satirical essay from a correspondent outlining the ideal mental and personal qualifications for a wife, favoring good nature, moderate beauty, practical skills, and social graces over excesses or expertise in arts and foreign affairs.
Clipping
OCR Quality
95%
Excellent
Full Text
From a Correspondent.
The mental and personal Qualifications of a WIFE
GREAT good nature, and a
prudent generosity. A lively
look, a proper spirit, and a cheerful
disposition.
A good person, but not perfectly
beautiful.
Of a moderate height.
With regard to complexion, not
quite fair, but a little brown.
Young, by all means.
Old, by no means.
A proper knowledge of accounts
and arithmetic; but no sort of skill
in fractions.
A more than tolerable good voice
and a little ear for music; and a
capability of singing a canzonet, or
a song (in company) but no peculiar
and intimate acquaintance with
minims, crotchets, quavers. &c.
No enthusiasm for the guitar.
Ready at her needle, but more
devoted to plain work than to fine.
No enemy to knitting.
Not always in the parlour, but
sometimes in the kitchen.
More skilled in the theoretic than
in the practical part of cookery.
To tea and coffee no objection.
Fonder of country dances than
minuets.
An acquaintance with domestic
news, but no acquaintance with
foreign:
Not entirely fond of quadrille,
but a little given to whist.
In conversation a little of the lisp,
but not of the stammer.
Decently, but not affectedly silent.
The mental and personal Qualifications of a WIFE
GREAT good nature, and a
prudent generosity. A lively
look, a proper spirit, and a cheerful
disposition.
A good person, but not perfectly
beautiful.
Of a moderate height.
With regard to complexion, not
quite fair, but a little brown.
Young, by all means.
Old, by no means.
A proper knowledge of accounts
and arithmetic; but no sort of skill
in fractions.
A more than tolerable good voice
and a little ear for music; and a
capability of singing a canzonet, or
a song (in company) but no peculiar
and intimate acquaintance with
minims, crotchets, quavers. &c.
No enthusiasm for the guitar.
Ready at her needle, but more
devoted to plain work than to fine.
No enemy to knitting.
Not always in the parlour, but
sometimes in the kitchen.
More skilled in the theoretic than
in the practical part of cookery.
To tea and coffee no objection.
Fonder of country dances than
minuets.
An acquaintance with domestic
news, but no acquaintance with
foreign:
Not entirely fond of quadrille,
but a little given to whist.
In conversation a little of the lisp,
but not of the stammer.
Decently, but not affectedly silent.
What sub-type of article is it?
Essay
Satire
What themes does it cover?
Social Manners
What keywords are associated?
Wife Qualifications
Social Expectations
Domestic Skills
Satirical Essay
Gender Roles
What entities or persons were involved?
From A Correspondent.
Literary Details
Title
The Mental And Personal Qualifications Of A Wife
Author
From A Correspondent.
Key Lines
Young, By All Means.
Old, By No Means.
A Good Person, But Not Perfectly Beautiful.
More Skilled In The Theoretic Than In The Practical Part Of Cookery.
Decently, But Not Affectedly Silent.