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Visualizing the "Advice to the Ladies of London": |
The speaker of “Advice to the Ladies of London, In the Choice of their Husbands” (Pepys 4.85) opens by addressing the “wealthy and fair” women of London, “whom every Town Fop is pursuing.” The ballad, as the opening makes clear, is meant for women who are being wooed and do not know what to do about their choices. It promises to reveal the “Vices” of the “bonny brisk sparks” to give these women all of the information they need to make their decisions. By listing the faults of men, the ballad also makes assumptions about what women want and how women are. For example, the speaker advises
Do not marry a man who will bully you, but one whom you can trick so that you can have a lover on the side without trouble. Later the speaker tells the woman not to marry a smart man because he will beat her to the cuckolding. The assumption here is that in a husband, a woman is not looking for a partner but for someone over whom she can have power. The stereotype of the shrew is just this—a woman who seeks to control her husband and gets away with whatever she pleases.
In order to be happy, according to this speaker, a woman deserves a man who will pay at least some attention to her. The “dull Country Clown” who loves his animals a little too much is not likely to see to his wife’s needs. The perfect husband, in the end, is an old man with money because he has the potential to beget other lovers. By being with an old man, a woman can have him and all of the young men she wants because they will be attracted to her money. The last words of the ballad are: “if this don’t please, Old Nick is in you.” “Old Nick,” a nickname for the Devil and also presumably the aging husband here, still has the potential to satisfy her sexually.
One of the answers to the Advice to the Ladies of London, “An Answer to the Advice to the Ladies of London. Wherein is set forth a Glance of their Craft and Subtilty: Or, The Fop well fitted by one of their late Stratagems. Behold and see the Subtilty of London Misses, when They can compleat a Crafty Cheat, they make a prey of Men” (Pepys 4.86) is much meaner in tone, and tells the story of a young “fop” who was cheated by a woman and her husband. The advice to the ladies of London was to marry a man who will let you take your pleasure elsewhere. The woman in the “answer” uses that economic relationship in partnership with her husband to make money. Told in the voice of the cheated young man, this ballad paints a seemingly grim view of women interested in tricking men. As early as the title, the ballad refers to women as predators—“they make a prey of Men”—and as tricksters—“their Craft and Subtilty.”
"Advice To Young Gentlemen; OR, An Answer to the Ladies of London" (Pepys 4.87) is also an answer and it tells men not to marry at all, but to trick women into sleeping with them and then moving on when they are all used up. There is thus a contrast between the advice to men and the advice to women. Women are advised to marry in order to be able to seek their pleasures wherever they would like, while men are advised to avoid marriage at all costs in order to be happy.
Ref 1 cully, n. “One who is cheated or imposed upon . . . a dupe, gull . . .” (OED 2nd Ed. 1989 <http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50055547> Accessed 4/5/08)
