ABSTRACT
Samuel Pepys (1633–1703) was a member of Parliament in England as well as an administrator of the English royal navy. His famous diary recorded the highs and lows of his life between 1660 and 1669 and it is particularly interesting because of the details about his private life, especially his numerous extramarital sexual liaisons. As a result of these affairs, Pepys and his wife Elizabeth had a very stormy relationship. Moreover, his wife suffered from loneliness. Pepys recounts an altercation with the unhappy Elizabeth that reveals not only the emotional turmoil that existed in the marriage but also Pepys’ acute and selfish anxiety that the unhappy letters of his wife would become public and undermine his public reputation and position. The extract from 1668 shows how Pepys’ liaison with ‘the girle’, a young maid employed by Pepys and named Deborah Willet, put further strain on the marriage and caused the shedding of many tears.
