Bacon＇s Attitude towards Women

培根的女人觀

摘 要：本人分析了弗朗西斯·培根“妻子是青年時代的情人，中年時代的伴侶，暮年時代的護士”的論述，分析其對女人的態度。

Abstract： This essay analyzes Francis Bacon’s attitude towards women from his view of wife that\"Wives are young men's mistresses; companions for middle age; and old men's nurses\".

關鍵詞：女人 婚姻 情人 伴侶 護士

Key words： women， marriage， mistress， companion nurse

作者簡介: 宋麗香(1987-)， 女， 河北省人，現就讀于北京師范大學外國語言文學學院英語系，擔任學院學生會主席，2008級本科生黨支部書記等職；榮獲 “北京市三好學生” “優秀學生干部”等榮譽稱號。

As a famous English philosopher， statesman， scientist， lawyer， jurist and author， Francis Bacon said that “Wives are young men's mistresses; companions for middle age; and old men's nurses” in “Of Marriage and Single Life”. It reveals Bacon’s attitude towards women as well as the social attitude towards women in Renaissance period: women have a lower statue than men and they have to revolve around men during their lives， playing different roles to serve and help men who are in the leading position.

First of all， women serve men as playthings when they are young as Francis Bacon said that “wives are young men's mistresses”. Though time changes， the fact that young men pursue enjoyment and sex in the relationship with women is similar both in old and modern time. Besides， we all know that mistress， different from wives， are only to amuse men with beauty and sex. In addition， the relationship between men and their mistresses are not steady. Young women can be fully favored as a pet by men as well as dumped one day. Although we can not deny there are true loves between young men and women， men are still in the relatively leading position. Therefore， we call a young man， who has affairs with several women， attractive playboy. On the contrary， a woman in this situation is despised for dissolution. Thus， young women are lack of equality in the relationships with young men.

Next， women serve men as helpers when they are in middle age as Francis Bacon said that “wives are companions for middle age”. It is not difficult to understand that men in middle age take much burden from both the society and family. Facing the fact that they have to struggle to take on the enterprise and support their parents and children， middle-age men need a helper， in other word， a companion， with whom they can share all the happiness and sorrows. Thus， women as their wives play the role of assistants. They help men take care of the family and accompany men to survive from the severe competition in the work. No matter how difficult life is， men are not alone， since there are women， their wives， help them share their life together， supporting them through years of hardship. Even in the modern society we can see more than one woman sacrifice their careers and youth for their husband and family to be housewives. In the final analysis， men are in the leading position while women are after all serving them.

Furthermore， women serve men as nursemaids when they are old as Francis Bacon said that “wives are old men's nurses”. It is obviously unfair for women. When the couples are old， they should take care of each other. How can women be men’s nurses? In the old time， husbands were always older than wives. That is to say， when husbands were old and sick， their wives were relatively young and strong， so they become men’s nurses naturally. However， in the modern world， wives do not have to be young than husbands， sometimes even older. Consequently， the wives are likely to be the weak ones when the couples are old. Under this circumstance， it is men that should be the nurses for women. Obviously， Francis Bacon put women in a relatively lower status than men.

In conclusion， with being mistresses， companions and nurses， women change their roles for men’s different requirement in each period of life. We can see there are unequal attitude towards women to some extent. Unfortunately， as a female， I have to admit that Francis Bacon described the fact both in the ancient and modern society， though there were unfair views. From his “Of Marriage and Single Life”， I see my mother， as an eminent housewife， playing the role of my father’s companion and my grandmother， who has been the nurse for my grandfather for nearly fifteen years. No matter what roles we play in the marriage， both men and women should be understanding and tolerant to each other; thus we can create a harmonious marriage and society.