Actually, I had written a whole paragraph about that but deleted it after deciding it was
inflammatory, so I am grateful to you, a male, for saying it.
Why, thank you. As you've probably noticed, I don't always avoid saying inflammatory things! <g>
Perhaps I should have said that I was amazed that women were viewed as so inferior, as weak, as stupid, so
ineffectual- what is the female equivalent of castrated?
The amazed part surprises me, but not the rest. But having read my fill of the English novelists -- Eliot, Dickens, Trollope, Thackery, Hardy, even Austen -- it's not at all amazing to me to see women being treated in this way. The occasional strong willed woman is treated as an oddity, and usually is defeated in the end (even Kate eventually submits). The Wife of Bath is of amusement and interest because she is such an exception.
Keep in mind that in 1890s I believe women were still not allowed to own property in their own names in England. I may be a bit off in my dates, but I don't think by much.
Frankly, I can't imagine even trying to boss my wife around. Quite the opposite. So I view all that as a literary oddity with no connection to real life. But at the time, it was quite normal. |
