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Women 17 Century

Women in the 17th Century

If you were a woman in the 17th century then you had little say so in what happens around the household and around the city. Women were little to nothing in the 17th century. Their roles and treatments throughout the 17th century varied depending on who they were and who they were associated with. Men didn't look at them as women, but only as objects and trophies. Women had no part in things that took place in that century. If you were a woman who was known or somebody then you either had to be a painter or someone brought up in royalty. "Unmarried virgins and wives were to maintain silence in the public sphere and give unstinting obedience to father and husband, though widows had some scope for making their own decisions and managing their affairs." (NAEL 1) So as you can see there were only a few types of women, a few painters, maids, and aristocrats. And not too many women could call themselves aristocrats.

The first class of women I'm going to be discussing is the class of the maids. In the 17th century you had maids ranging from all different types of ages. It didn't matter if the couldn't read and write because they weren't there to do all that. All they were there for was to work for the household. In the book "Girl With A Pearl Earring", the character Greit doesn't know how to read or write but she's good at what she does and that's cleaning. She was sent to the house to do one thing and that's was to keep Johannes Vermeer's studio clean so that he could paint. (Pg. 8) Even though Greit was the maid, Vermeer loved that she had an artistic view on life and his paintings. But still she was the maid and he was the head of the house. With Greit being the new maid and all she had little but big responsibilities. And her main task was to keep Johannes Vermeer's studio clean everyday so that he can paint his portraits. So she did all she can to keep the studio clean. While the other maid tended to the children more than Griet....