조선 후기 여훈서의 아내 윤리와 ‘아내-주체’ 구성의 가능성

Abstract

This paper aims to identify the opportunity of subjectivization prepared by women in the late Joseon Dynasty. Among the relationships women had in the late Joseon Dynasty, I paid attention to the ‘wife’ in the marital relationship, which was judged to have the most room to exercise independent will. Based on the theory of subordination agent composition, it is necessary to understand the subordination condition. The wife ethics of 『Yeki(禮記)』, 『Sohak(小學)』, and the wife ethics of Yeo-Hoon-Seo(女訓書) were examined. As a result, it was possible to confirm the wife's ethics, which consisted of performing functional roles based on clothing and food, serving her husband with a sensible and respectful attitude, and tender admonitions and exhortations to her husband. And as an example to consider the impact of these regulatory practices on women, we demonstrated how Kim Samuidang(金三宜堂) in the late Joseon Dynasty selectively accepted the given ethical norms and practiced the role of ‘wife-subject’. She defines herself as a ‘wife-daughter-in-law’ and at the same time establishes the functional duties within the family suggested by the wife ethics in 『Yeki(禮記)』, 『Sohak(小學)』, and Yeo-Hoon-Seo(女訓書) as her own role. However, as can be seen from the letter sent to her actual husband, she did not accept Yeo Hun-seo's wife ethics in the late Joseon Dynasty to maintain a meek attitude in remonstrating. This shows the crack between the ideal and the reality of gender norms in the late Joseon Dynasty.