Gender Relations
William Gouge
Biography
William Gouge was born in 1575 in Stratford-le-bow and grew up in a mostly puritan family. He later attended Eton College and furthered his education at Kings College, Cambridge. While studying at Cambridge he studied under and became the assistant of Stephen Egerton, A Puritan preacher who was active in reforming The Church of England. Gouge did marry, and had 13 children, after giving birth to their last child, Elizabeth Nee Calton shortly died. Gouge Continued his religious work becoming a minister in London and soon he chairs the Parliamentary committee set to lay out principles for the English church along Calvinist doctrine.
2. OF A WIFE’S SUBJECTION IN GENERAL
"Contrary is the disposition of many wives, whom ambition hath tainted and corrupted within and without: they cannot endure to hear of subjection: they imagine that they are made slaves thereby. But I hope partly by that which hath been before delivered concerning those common duties which man and wife do mutually owe each to other, and partly by the particulars which under this general are comprised, but most especially by the duties which the husband in particular oweth to his wife, it will evidently appear, that this subjection is no servitude."
4. OF A FOND CONCEIT THAT HUSBAND AND WIFE ARE EQUAL
"As an evidence, that a wife is to man as the heart to the head, she was at her first creation (Gen 2:21) taken out of the side of man where his heart lieth; and though the woman was at first of the man (1 Cor 11:12) created out of his side, yet is the man also by the woman. Ever since the first creation man hath been born and brought forth out of the woman’s womb: so as neither the man is without the woman, nor the woman without the man"
3. OF AN HUSBAND’S SUPERIORITY OVER A WIFE, TO BE ACKNOWLEDGED BY THE WIFE
"Nature hath placed an eminency in the male over the female: so as where they are linked together in one yoke, it is given by nature that he should govern, she obey. This did the heathen by light of nature observe."
5. OF A WIFE’S ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF HER OWN HUSBAND’S SUPERIORITY
"Surely she must. For the evil quality and disposition of his heart and life, doth not deprive a man of that civil honour which God hath given unto him"
My Opinion
I consider Gouge the middle man between both Swetnam and Speght. Granted Gouge is still very much misogynist and believes the male gender is superior to the female he also clearly believes that within a marriage both men and women are equal on some grounds and see's the importance of a women and understand that despite being "inferior" women at least deserve respect in some form. He is taking the first step into better role for women in marriage and society in general. I still dislike a majority of what he believes however he's not as awful as Swetnam.
His themes and missions
Gouge's "Of Domesticall Duties" is a prost tract argument based on the demonstration of a wife's submission in marriage and duties including even where she is superior to him certain areas such as:Virtue and age. He manages to use scripture about women to pursue both the mans argument and womanns argument.