Even though Jane Austen shows in Persuasion that men and women have
different roles, namely that men work or otherwise amuse themselves outside of
the home while women work and entertain inside the home, Austen also shows that
it is generally a person's character that makes a
person either a good or bad husband or wife. In Jane Austen's
Persuasion, while there really are neither perfect husbands nor
perfect wives, some do possess a few good qualities.
While generally speaking, Austen does not seem to approve much of
Charles Musgrove as a husband, she does attribute him with
some good qualities . In general, Austen portrays Charles as lacking in education. As a result, his quality of conversation is not as good as Anne would like it to be; plus, he is very self-indulgent and focuses only on hunting. Anne feels that a more educated woman, like...
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herself, would have helped him develop his own character better and increase his interests. One example we see of Charles acting poorly as a husband is when he decides, against Mary's wishes, to dine with the Musgroves and Captain Wentworth at the big house immediately after his son had fallen and broken his collar bone.
However, regardless of his character flaws, he is recognized as being a good
husband because he is far more sensible and has a
better temper than his wife. Plus, his good temper and
happy nature help him to put up with his wife's complaining, as we see
in the lines:
He had very good spirits, which never seemed much affected by his wife's occasional lowness, bore with her unreasonableness sometimes to Anne's admiration. (Ch. 6)
Hence, we see that good qualities of a husband are sense
and a generally calm and happy temper.
Likewise it is Mary's lack of sense, understanding, and mopey
temper that make her a disagreeable wife and poor
mother. Not only does she frequently complain, making comments like,
"Upon my word, I shall be pretty well off, when you are all gone away to be
happy at Bath," she is also accused of spoiling her children (Ch. 6). Nor does
she want to remain with her son when Charles went out to dinner, but instead
leaves him to Anne's care.
In Persuasion, does Jane Austen suggest a good wife would make a bad husband?
Anne is described as having the qualities that make the best wife. She is
caring, sensitive, motherly, intelligent, sensible, and gives good advice. In
fact it is stated that she has "an elegance of mind and a sweetness of
character" (Ch. 1). When at the Musgrove's, the family frequently confides in
her and asks her opinion. It is also Anne who stays and nurses young Charles
Musgrove, Jr. after he falls and dislocates his collar bone (Ch. 6).
Austen also describes a good wife as being capable of making a good man's
character even better when she states of Charles Musgrove that "a more equal
match might have greatly improved him" (Ch. 6). For example, Anne agrees with
Lady Russell that marrying a woman with more sense, would have helped his
character and made him more useful and less idle with respect to pursuits other
than sports (Ch. 6).
Austen describes good husbands in quite a similar light. In fact she describes
Charles Musgrove's sense and temper as being above Mary's. Wentworth is
described as kind, caring, polite, and handsome.
So in the sense that a good wife has as good a character and mind as a good
husband, good wives and husbands are alike, thus a good wife would make a good
husband.
The one distinction is that it was the wife's job to tend to the household
affairs and it was the man's job to tend to the affairs of household
income. With respect to Jane Austen's time period, in that a woman was
educated to stay at home, a good wife would have made a poor husband, but only
because she was not educated to tend to matters of earning money.