“Lecture IV. Duties of Contract: Wives. — Friends” is a section that includes commentary about religion and traditional marriage roles as they relate to the overall theme in The Duties of Women: a rejection of the traditional roles of women in the late 19th century. Cobbe investigates marriage roles and expectations . She begins talking about how the formal contract of marriage and what obligations come along with that. According to Lecture IV, there are two natural and one artificial obligation. First is the mutual promise of conjugal union, which pertains to exclusive fidelity. This refers to the bond between one another and seeking out each other’s welfare as a priority. Next, is the promise to “honor and cherish each other in sickness and health, poverty and riches” (p.99). Finally, the third vow of the wife is the vow of conjugal obedience. This is the one that most directly pertains to the theme of this text.

“Many of you will think me harsh for saying it; but it is my deliberate opinion that when a woman has committed the enormous double crime, personal and social, of violating the law of chastity, and doing her husband the mortal wrong of breaking her marriage oath, it is fit and right that the society which she has outraged should close its doors to her. Of this, we shall say more here-after” (p.99)

Overall, Cobbe’s investigation of the marriage contract begs the question of what exactly these words like “obedience” and “benevolence” mean and how do the obligations within these contracts meet the standards reflected by these words? She rejects these vows and explains how they are disproportionately catered to the good of the husband and do not provide any form of balance in a relationship.

“… the wife affection being of a poor and short-sighted kind, she constantly urges her husband to think of himself and his own interests, rather than of the persons and objects for which he was ready to sacrifice himself” (p.100).

Want a better understanding of what marriage looked like during Cobbe's lifetime? Continue to Marriage and Feminism in the Late 19th Century to learn more.