The Wife-Beater 1628 - 1638

Abraham Bosse created this engraving, titled 'The Wife-Beater,' in the 17th century. It offers a stark depiction of domestic violence, reflecting the era’s patriarchal norms where a woman’s status was acutely vulnerable to abuse and control by her husband. In this print, we see a man raising a switch to strike his kneeling wife, while their children plead for mercy. The scene isn’t just a snapshot of violence; it's a window into the power dynamics of gender and class in the early modern period. It's easy to imagine the emotional weight of her position, the desperation for protection, and the children's terror. While the image explicitly critiques this abuse, its existence also suggests a complex societal attitude toward domestic violence. The print serves as a harsh mirror, reflecting the tensions between personal morality and accepted social behaviors.