 | The Merchant |  |
SCENE VIII.
SYRAalone.
Now, by my troth, the poor unhappy women
Are much more hardly dealt with than the men.
For if a husband brings a mistress home,
149
There is no law that punishes the man:
But catch her rambling with gallants abroad,
The husband truly sues for a divorce.
Would the same law held good for man and wife!
For since a wife, if she's an honest woman,
Will be contented with her husband; why,
Should not the husband also with his wife?
I would fain have fair play between them both;
And then, I warrant you, if ev'ry husband,
Prov'd a sly wencher, could but be divorc'd
As well as wanton wives, we soon should see
More widowers, than there are widows now.
[Exit.
| The Merchant | |