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Madam Winthrop is the model Puritan wife in the Massachusetts Bay Colony—not only because of her temperament and behavior, but because, as Governor Winthrop’s wife, she is very much the “first lady” of the colonies. In that position, she tries to instill in other women the important duty of obeying one’s husband, in accordance with the Puritan interpretation of Christian Scripture.
Hope and Esther represent two very different responses to this example—where Esther, Madam Winthrop’s niece, desires to follow her aunt to the letter, Hope is the opposite extreme, engaged in an ongoing, low-key resistance to her guardian’s authority. Sedgwick…