Domestic slavery (Motif)
We are told that St. Paul said, “Wives, obey your husbands:” but he also said, “Slaves, obey your masters.”
In the essay, “slavery” functions as an evolving motif, which spans the literal and the metaphorical. Initially, Mill suggests that women are enslaved to their husbands legally and concretely. This form of slavery is institutionalized through laws stripping women of basic human rights. Women, legally bound to men, are deprived of personal freedom. Mill’s reference to marriage as the only remaining “legal slavery” after the abolition of “negro slavery” highlights the tangible, oppressive reality women face.
As the essay progresses, this motif of slavery shifts to a metaphorical realm. Here, Mill’s argument extends from the legal into the spiritual domains. Women, he argues, are not forced into the enslaved position, but they internalize such subjugation themselves. They willingly accept the inferiority, which has a longstanding impact on their personal identity and character, as they take submissiveness as a natural fact. Mill suggests that women are enslaved not merely in their physical conditions but in their minds as well.
