During the Middle Ages, women exercised roles in the labor field as men. This sort of movement, where women have legal right to work, was called "Femme Sole." This was an improvement for women by conducting business apart from their husbands (page 3). Single widows as well as married women, were able to achieve independence. To illustrate, Margery Kempe was a woman who, in addition to performing household chores, was also a business woman whose profits were for herself. She decided to become independent woman, removing her husband's power.
Margaret Paston was a young girl who married at age
of 18. Due to the absence of her husband, she had the responsibility to take over the house's administration as well as her husband's affairs. Among
her chores she cooked smoked ham and bacon, baked bread, preserved fruits and
ran the estates as though she was her husband (page 1). Be in charge of the affairs of her husband was not an easy task for her because she was not used to have a close relations with men other than her father or husband. likewise, the comportment book, "The Good Wife's Guide," reflected a married young girl who had to assume household responsibilities as well as assistant business of her husband.
In middle ages, mothers were devoted to the task of instilling into their daughters what society expects of them. Hence, the existence of books and poems to dedicate them. These poems were intended to explain the importance of home managing, subservience and so on (page 1), as well as their duties towards their husbands.
