ABSTRACT
A similar relationship was that of Edwin Lutyens and his wife Lady Emily in the late nineteenth century. Wife-beating occurred in aristocratic circles as in all other classes, as so did other forms of ill-treatment. Despite what has been said earlier about aristocratic wives being the most liberated group of women in nineteenth century England, if an aristocratic marriage went sour, and the husband wished to exert his legal rights, he had some powerful legal holds over his wife. Divorce was more difficult for a wife to obtain than it was for a husband, since she had to prove more aggravating offences than simple adultery. The interesting point is that the Duchess was never bullied into becoming the sort of wife that her husband wished her to be, despite his eminence as the saviour of Europe, as ‘the Iron Duke’, and as Prime Minister.
