The Wife's Resentment by Delarivier Manley

In the face of Roderigo's urgent persuasions, Violenta claims to be "a maidwho knows the the true estimation of virtue" and counters his dramatic claims of death by simply stating, "You very eloquently tell me you shall die if I continue unkind; but I very plainly tell your Lordship, that I must perish if I prove otherwise: since I know it will be impossible for me to live after the loss of my honor" (146). Violenta reiterates the conventional belief of the time: the notion that the value of a woman's life is linked irrevocably to her virginal status, and, that a loss of the latter implied a loss of the former as "modesty is rarely or never to be regained." Perhaps somewhat astonishingly, Violenta is not adverse to Count Roderigo's suit; rather, her objections lie in the Count's intentions of having Violenta trade in her virginal status, in effect, her honor, without offering the proper recompense - marriage - in return. One could say then, while Violenta is not making her virtue available for sale, she certainly is waiting for a society-sanctioned "trade-off" of sorts to take place in which she exchanges her chastity for the putative security of marriage. Though sexual chastity may have been considered an entity "whose price was inestimable" it certainly was not above being traded like a material commodity - so long as it came with the proper packaging. Thus, the text reveals the paradox: sexual chastity was not a measure of how truly virtuous a woman is, but rather was an important negotiation tool in securing a husband, getting paid off in a sense by said husband's wealth, and cementing a woman's societal status as a "proper" woman. .
             The follow through of this exchange was considered to be the virgin's gain, her "reward" for losing her chastity (exchanging her honor) in a manner approved by society.