Women in the Middle Ages didn't have any basic rights. They were subjugated by their husbands as wives or by their parents as daughters. Women had to follow absolute rules. they worked very hard at home and also some of them had to work shoulder by shoulder with their husbands who delegated many responsabilities to their wives. To illustrate, Margaret Paston who had the responsabilities to manage her husband's business affairs also had to act as a mediator between him and the many people who he was dealing with in the country. Even though she didn't receive any pay for the job, this gave her and all women of the times a little freedom to do something else than household.

Women's Image

Women's image in the medieval times were as a housewives full of limitations to prevent them from taking decisions without their husband's permission. They always had to act the way that society and especially their husbands expected them to. In the "Good wife's guide" the husband expected his wife to follow all of his instructions as a housewife, she had to as obedient as the Comportment Books where it was suggested that women where to obey husbands and follow their every order. In both written works women were trained or educated by their husbands. They had to act and behave in accordance with their wishes and perspectives.

Book for Women in the Middle Ages

In the Middle Ages, books written for women by men were based on bible passages and men's beliefs of how women had to be and act. "The head of the woman is the man"(Corinthians 11). "Women are commanded to be under obedience and also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home"(Ephesian 5). Those statements are clearly examples of how women had to conduct themselves according to the bible's passages.The books for women where just to teach them how to be obedient, quiet, faithful, good wives and so on. Obviously, those books portrayed women as inferior to men. The interpretations of the bible were in part responsible for the belief that women were inferior than men in medieval times.

Sexual Politics

In medieval times women were shown as innocent and without maliciousness in sexual activities campus. However, some wives used sexual politics to get what they wanted by having sexual encounters to pay off her debts or get money. To illustrate, the merchant's wife used her sexual encounters to get money from Dan John. She used manipulation to get money. For example, she would say her husband was horrible to her. This money was used to buy clothes and then she would have sex with her husband to repay. This is a clear example that some women used their sexual attractiveness to obtain comfort and money.