A Midwifes Tale (Essay Sample)

A Midwife’s Tale
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A Midwife’s Tale is regarded as history of a typical woman in New England that lived while adapting to unavoidable changes that led to the creation of American Republic. The history of that time uses a character named Martha Ballard in portraying her story. The documentary has shown the role of woman, daughters, mothers, midwife’s, and the manner through which these communities coexisted in years of the American Revolution. The diary by Martha contains pieces of history that cannot be ignored. These records have enabled us gain understanding on the unique historical era. The book recounts the roles played by American midwives during this period of eighteenth century. The documentary also explains the types of medicine used, ailments, and the prowess of medical practitioners at that time. As a representative of women in the society at that period when the American republic was being created, she played many roles that were supposed to be played by women. The roles included being a wife and a mother, midwife, and it meant that she attended all her "womanly duties" well (Thomas, 2013).
Martha was a woman who ensured that during this time of her life she performed her duties as well as keeping records of the debt owed and the payments made. She revealed how the economy needed to be catered for in this era. She was a lady who believed in hard work and it was her expectations that all women would have emulated her. The documentary also depicts the neighborhood trade economy that existed in the eighteenth century. Her prosperity in daily life was also contributed by the labor from hired hands, her children, and the neighbors. Further, the house of the lady she noted that the house was more of a workplace as the saw mill.
Martha Ballard would make a good republican mother given the roles that she performed and the dedication that she had towards serving other people. She handled all issues that affected families ranging from the cases of promiscuity to cases of rape. Three of the chapters in the book of Ulrich are on the rape case of Rebecca Foster. Cases of births that were outside wedlock and sexual activities out of wedlock accounted for a third of the criminal activities at that time. Martha played a crucial role in recording the names of the children fathers in her diary awaiting legal proceeding. She would have welcomed the idea of being a responsible woman of the eighteenth century. In fact, she was responsible republican mother due to the fact that she upheld justice more so in the cases dealing with promiscuity. ...