Final answer:
The wife in various texts is described as being both a paragon of virtue and a source of inspiration, as well as being beautiful and dignified. However, she is also shown to have a humorous and more flawed side, where her priorities and appearance at home contrast with her public persona. These descriptions provide a well-rounded understanding of her character.
Step-by-step explanation:
The wife is described in various ways across different contexts. She is portrayed as pleasant, kind, respectable, and amiable, demonstrating qualities often not found simultaneously in a person. These descriptions suggest that she is a model of virtue and a person from whom others can draw inspiration. Additionally, she is depicted as beautiful, fresh, and radiant, with a smile of joy and an attitude of grace and dignity, invoking an almost ethereal quality to her character.
Elsewhere, she is depicted with humor as having a funny and appalling appearance when at home, bedecked with vanishing cream and bread face-packs, contrasting sharply with her more careful appearance when considering a lover. This duality demonstrates a multifaceted nature, highlighting differing personal priorities in public and private. Lastly, another description captures her as fuller figured since marriage but still possessing a vibrant vivacity and a stubborn, yet charming, disheveled appearance.