It is hardly to be expected that this question will be asked in respect to the change proposed in the condition of women in marriage. The sufferings, immoralities, evils of all sorts, produced in innumerable cases by the subjection of individual women to individual men, are far too terrible to be overlooked. Unthinking or uncandid persons, counting those cases alone which are extreme, or which attain4 publicity5, may say that the evils are exceptional; but no one can be blind to their existence, nor, in many cases, [Pg 147] to their intensity6. And it is perfectly7 obvious that the abuse of the power cannot be very much checked while the power remains. It is a power given, or offered, not to good men, or to decently respectable men, but to all men; the most brutal8, and the most criminal. There is no check but that of opinion, and such men are in general within the reach of no opinion but that of men like themselves. If such men did not brutally9 tyrannize over the one human being whom the law compels to bear everything from them, society must already have reached a paradisiacal state. There could be no need any longer of laws to curb10 men's vicious propensities11. Astr?a must not only have returned to earth, but the heart of the worst man must have become her temple. The law of servitude in marriage is a monstrous12 contradiction to all the principles of the modern world, and to all the experience through which those principles have been slowly and painfully worked out. It is the sole case, now that negro slavery has been abolished, in which a human being in the plenitude of every faculty14 is delivered up to the tender mercies of another human being, in the hope forsooth that this other will use the power solely15 for the good of the person subjected to it. Marriage is the only actual bondage16 known to our law. There remain no legal slaves, except the mistress of every house. [Pg 148]
It is not, therefore, on this part of the subject, that the question is likely to be asked, Cui bono? We may be told that the evil would outweigh17 the good, but the reality of the good admits of no dispute. In regard, however, to the larger question, the removal of women's disabilities—their recognition as the equals of men in all that belongs to citizenship—the opening to them of all honourable18 employments, and of the training and education which qualifies for those employments—there are many persons for whom it is not enough that the inequality has no just or legitimate19 defence; they require to be told what express advantage would be obtained by abolishing it.
To which let me first answer, the advantage of having the most universal and pervading20 of all human relations regulated by justice instead of injustice21. The vast amount of this gain to human nature, it is hardly possible, by any explanation or illustration, to place in a stronger light than it is placed by the bare statement, to any one who attaches a moral meaning to words. All the selfish propensities, the self-worship, the unjust self-preference, which exist among mankind, have their source and root in, and derive22 their principal nourishment23 from, the present constitution of the relation between men and women. Think what it is to a boy, to grow up to manhood in the [Pg 149] belief that without any merit or any exertion24 of his own, though he may be the most frivolous25 and empty or the most ignorant and stolid26 of mankind, by the mere27 fact of being born a male he is by right the superior of all and every one of an entire half of the human race: including probably some whose real superiority to himself he has daily or hourly occasion to feel; but even if in his whole conduct he habitually28 follows a woman's guidance, still, if he is a fool, she thinks that of course she is not, and cannot be, equal in ability and judgment30 to himself; and if he is not a fool, he does worse—he sees that she is superior to him, and believes that, notwithstanding her superiority, he is entitled to command and she is bound to obey. What must be the effect on his character, of this lesson? And men of the cultivated classes are often not aware how deeply it sinks into the immense majority of male minds. For, among right-feeling and well-bred people, the inequality is kept as much as possible out of sight; above all, out of sight of the children. As much obedience31 is required from boys to their mother as to their father: they are not permitted to domineer over their sisters, nor are they accustomed to see these postponed32 to them, but the contrary; the compensations of the chivalrous33 feeling being made prominent, while the servitude which requires them is kept in the background. [Pg 150] Well brought-up youths in the higher classes thus often escape the bad influences of the situation in their early years, and only experience them when, arrived at manhood, they fall under the dominion34 of facts as they really exist. Such people are little aware, when a boy is differently brought up, how early the notion of his inherent superiority to a girl arises in his mind; how it grows with his growth and strengthens with his strength; how it is inoculated35 by one schoolboy upon another; how early the youth thinks himself superior to his mother, owing her perhaps forbearance, but no real respect; and how sublime36 and sultan-like a sense of superiority he feels, above all, over the woman whom he honours by admitting her to a partnership37 of his life. Is it imagined that all this does not pervert38 the whole manner of existence of the man, both as an individual and as a social being? It is an exact parallel to the feeling of a hereditary39 king that he is excellent above others by being born a king, or a noble by being born a noble. The relation between husband and wife is very like that between lord and vassal40, except that the wife is held to more unlimited41 obedience than the vassal was. However the vassal's character may have been affected42, for better and for worse, by his subordination, who can help seeing that the lord's was affected greatly for the worse? whether he was [Pg 151] led to believe that his vassals43 were really superior to himself, or to feel that he was placed in command over people as good as himself, for no merits or labours of his own, but merely for having, as Figaro says, taken the trouble to be born. The self-worship of the monarch44, or of the feudal45 superior, is matched by the self-worship of the male. Human beings do not grow up from childhood in the possession of unearned distinctions, without pluming46 themselves upon them. Those whom privileges not acquired by their merit, and which they feel to be disproportioned to it, inspire with additional humility47, are always the few, and the best few. The rest are only inspired with pride, and the worst sort of pride, that which values itself upon accidental advantages, not of its own achieving. Above all, when the feeling of being raised above the whole of the other sex is combined with personal authority over one individual among them; the situation, if a school of conscientious48 and affectionate forbearance to those whose strongest points of character are conscience and affection, is to men of another quality a regularly constituted Academy or Gymnasium for training them in arrogance49 and overbearingness; which vices50, if curbed51 by the certainty of resistance in their intercourse52 with other men, their equals, break out towards all who are in a position to be obliged to tolerate them, and often revenge themselves [Pg 152] upon the unfortunate wife for the involuntary restraint which they are obliged to submit to elsewhere.
The example afforded, and the education given to the sentiments, by laying the foundation of domestic existence upon a relation contradictory53 to the first principles of social justice, must, from the very nature of man, have a perverting54 influence of such magnitude, that it is hardly possible with our present experience to raise our imaginations to the conception of so great a change for the better as would be made by its removal. All that education and civilization are doing to efface55 the influences on character of the law of force, and replace them by those of justice, remains merely on the surface, as long as the citadel56 of the enemy is not attacked. The principle of the modern movement in morals and politics, is that conduct, and conduct alone, entitles to respect: that not what men are, but what they do, constitutes their claim to deference57; that, above all, merit, and not birth, is the only rightful claim to power and authority. If no authority, not in its nature temporary, were allowed to one human being over another, society would not be employed in building up propensities with one hand which it has to curb with the other. The child would really, for the first time in man's existence on earth, be trained in the way he should go, and [Pg 153] when he was old there would be a chance that he would not depart from it. But so long as the right of the strong to power over the weak rules in the very heart of society, the attempt to make the equal right of the weak the principle of its outward actions will always be an uphill struggle; for the law of justice, which is also that of Christianity, will never get possession of men's inmost sentiments; they will be working against it, even when bending to it.
The second benefit to be expected from giving to women the free use of their faculties58, by leaving them the free choice of their employments, and opening to them the same field of occupation and the same prizes and encouragements as to other human beings, would be that of doubling the mass of mental faculties available for the higher service of humanity. Where there is now one person qualified59 to benefit mankind and promote the general improvement, as a public teacher, or an administrator60 of some branch of public or social affairs, there would then be a chance of two. Mental superiority of any kind is at present everywhere so much below the demand; there is such a deficiency of persons competent to do excellently anything which it requires any considerable amount of ability to do; that the loss to the world, by refusing to make use of one-half of the whole quantity of talent it possesses, is [Pg 154] extremely serious. It is true that this amount of mental power is not totally lost. Much of it is employed, and would in any case be employed, in domestic management, and in the few other occupations open to women; and from the remainder indirect benefit is in many individual cases obtained, through the personal influence of individual women over individual men. But these benefits are partial; their range is extremely circumscribed61; and if they must be admitted, on the one hand, as a deduction62 from the amount of fresh social power that would be acquired by giving freedom to one-half of the whole sum of human intellect, there must be added, on the other, the benefit of the stimulus63 that would be given to the intellect of men by the competition; or (to use a more true expression) by the necessity that would be imposed on them of deserving precedency before they could expect to obtain it.
This great accession to the intellectual power of the species, and to the amount of intellect available for the good management of its affairs, would be obtained, partly, through the better and more complete intellectual education of women, which would then improve pari passu with that of men. Women in general would be brought up equally capable of understanding business, public affairs, and the higher matters of speculation64, with men in the same class of society; and the select [Pg 155] few of the one as well as of the other sex, who were qualified not only to comprehend what is done or thought by others, but to think or do something considerable themselves, would meet with the same facilities for improving and training their capacities in the one sex as in the other. In this way, the widening of the sphere of action for women would operate for good, by raising their education to the level of that of men, and making the one participate in all improvements made in the other. But independently of this, the mere breaking down of the barrier would of itself have an educational virtue65 of the highest worth. The mere getting rid of the idea that all the wider subjects of thought and action, all the things which are of general and not solely of private interest, are men's business, from which women are to be warned off—positively66 interdicted67 from most of it, coldly tolerated in the little which is allowed them—the mere consciousness a woman would then have of being a human being like any other, entitled to choose her pursuits, urged or invited by the same inducements as any one else to interest herself in whatever is interesting to human beings, entitled to exert the share of influence on all human concerns which belongs to an individual opinion, whether she attempted actual participation68 in them or not—this alone would effect an immense expansion of [Pg 156] the faculties of women, as well as enlargement of the range of their moral sentiments.
Besides the addition to the amount of individual talent available for the conduct of human affairs, which certainly are not at present so abundantly provided in that respect that they can afford to dispense69 with one-half of what nature proffers70; the opinion of women would then possess a more beneficial, rather than a greater, influence upon the general mass of human belief and sentiment. I say a more beneficial, rather than a greater influence; for the influence of women over the general tone of opinion has always, or at least from the earliest known period, been very considerable. The influence of mothers on the early character of their sons, and the desire of young men to recommend themselves to young women, have in all recorded times been important agencies in the formation of character, and have determined72 some of the chief steps in the progress of civilization. Even in the Homeric age, αιδω? towards the Τρωαδα? ?λκεσιπεπλου? is an acknowledged and powerful motive73 of action in the great Hector. The moral influence of women has had two modes of operation. First, it has been a softening74 influence. Those who were most liable to be the victims of violence, have naturally tended as much as they could towards limiting its sphere and mitigating75 [Pg 157] its excesses. Those who were not taught to fight, have naturally inclined in favour of any other mode of settling differences rather than that of fighting. In general, those who have been the greatest sufferers by the indulgence of selfish passion, have been the most earnest supporters of any moral law which offered a means of bridling76 passion. Women were powerfully instrumental in inducing the northern conquerors77 to adopt the creed78 of Christianity, a creed so much more favourable79 to women than any that preceded it. The conversion80 of the Anglo-Saxons and of the Franks may be said to have been begun by the wives of Ethelbert and Clovis. The other mode in which the effect of women's opinion has been conspicuous81, is by giving a powerful stimulus to those qualities in men, which, not being themselves trained in, it was necessary for them that they should find in their protectors. Courage, and the military virtues82 generally, have at all times been greatly indebted to the desire which men felt of being admired by women: and the stimulus reaches far beyond this one class of eminent83 qualities, since, by a very natural effect of their position, the best passport to the admiration84 and favour of women has always been to be thought highly of by men. From the combination of the two kinds of moral influence thus exercised by women, arose the spirit [Pg 158] of chivalry85: the peculiarity87 of which is, to aim at combining the highest standard of the warlike qualities with the cultivation88 of a totally different class of virtues—those of gentleness, generosity89, and self-abnegation, towards the non-military and defenceless classes generally, and a special submission90 and worship directed towards women; who were distinguished91 from the other defenceless classes by the high rewards which they had it in their power voluntarily to bestow92 on those who endeavoured to earn their favour, instead of extorting93 their subjection. Though the practice of chivalry fell even more sadly short of its theoretic standard than practice generally falls below theory, it remains one of the most precious monuments of the moral history of our race; as a remarkable94 instance of a concerted and organized attempt by a most disorganized and distracted society, to raise up and carry into practice a moral ideal greatly in advance of its social condition and institutions; so much so as to have been completely frustrated95 in the main object, yet never entirely96 inefficacious, and which has left a most sensible, and for the most part a highly valuable impress on the ideas and feelings of all subsequent times.
The chivalrous ideal is the acme97 of the influence of women's sentiments on the moral cultivation of mankind: and if women are to remain in their subordinate situation, it were [Pg 159] greatly to be lamented98 that the chivalrous standard should have passed away, for it is the only one at all capable of mitigating the demoralizing influences of that position. But the changes in the general state of the species rendered inevitable99 the substitution of a totally different ideal of morality for the chivalrous one. Chivalry was the attempt to infuse moral elements into a state of society in which everything depended for good or evil on individual prowess, under the softening influences of individual delicacy100 and generosity. In modern societies, all things, even in the military department of affairs, are decided101, not by individual effort, but by the combined operations of numbers; while the main occupation of society has changed from fighting to business, from military to industrial life. The exigencies102 of the new life are no more exclusive of the virtues of generosity than those of the old, but it no longer entirely depends on them. The main foundations of the moral life of modern times must be justice and prudence103; the respect of each for the rights of every other, and the ability of each to take care of himself. Chivalry left without legal check all forms of wrong which reigned105 unpunished throughout society; it only encouraged a few to do right in preference to wrong, by the direction it gave to the instruments of praise and admiration. But the real dependence106 [Pg 160] of morality must always be upon its penal107 sanctions—its power to deter71 from evil. The security of society cannot rest on merely rendering108 honour to right, a motive so comparatively weak in all but a few, and which on very many does not operate at all. Modern society is able to repress wrong through all departments of life, by a fit exertion of the superior strength which civilization has given it, and thus to render the existence of the weaker members of society (no longer defenceless but protected by law) tolerable to them, without reliance on the chivalrous feelings of those who are in a position to tyrannize. The beauties and graces of the chivalrous character are still what they were, but the rights of the weak, and the general comfort of human life, now rest on a far surer and steadier support; or rather, they do so in every relation of life except the conjugal109.
At present the moral influence of women is no less real, but it is no longer of so marked and definite a character: it has more nearly merged110 in the general influence of public opinion. Both through the contagion111 of sympathy, and through the desire of men to shine in the eyes of women, their feelings have great effect in keeping alive what remains of the chivalrous ideal—in fostering the sentiments and continuing the traditions of spirit and generosity. In these [Pg 161] points of character, their standard is higher than that of men; in the quality of justice, somewhat lower. As regards the relations of private life it may be said generally, that their influence is, on the whole, encouraging to the softer virtues, discouraging to the sterner: though the statement must be taken with all the modifications112 dependent on individual character. In the chief of the greater trials to which virtue is subject in the concerns of life—the conflict between interest and principle—the tendency of women's influence is of a very mixed character. When the principle involved happens to be one of the very few which the course of their religious or moral education has strongly impressed upon themselves, they are potent114 auxiliaries115 to virtue: and their husbands and sons are often prompted by them to acts of abnegation which they never would have been capable of without that stimulus. But, with the present education and position of women, the moral principles which have been impressed on them cover but a comparatively small part of the field of virtue, and are, moreover, principally negative; forbidding particular acts, but having little to do with the general direction of the thoughts and purposes. I am afraid it must be said, that disinterestedness116 in the general conduct of life—the devotion of the energies to purposes which hold [Pg 162] out no promise of private advantages to the family—is very seldom encouraged or supported by women's influence. It is small blame to them that they discourage objects of which they have not learnt to see the advantage, and which withdraw their men from them, and from the interests of the family. But the consequence is that women's influence is often anything but favourable to public virtue.
Women have, however, some share of influence in giving the tone to public moralities since their sphere of action has been a little widened, and since a considerable number of them have occupied themselves practically in the promotion117 of objects reaching beyond their own family and household. The influence of women counts for a great deal in two of the most marked features of modern European life—its aversion to war, and its addiction118 to philanthropy. Excellent characteristics both; but unhappily, if the influence of women is valuable in the encouragement it gives to these feelings in general, in the particular applications the direction it gives to them is at least as often mischievous119 as useful. In the philanthropic department more particularly, the two provinces chiefly cultivated by women are religious proselytism and charity. Religious proselytism at home, is but another word for embittering120 of religious animosities: abroad, it is usually a [Pg 163] blind running at an object, without either knowing or heeding121 the fatal mischiefs—fatal to the religious object itself as well as to all other desirable objects—which may be produced by the means employed. As for charity, it is a matter in which the immediate123 effect on the persons directly concerned, and the ultimate consequence to the general good, are apt to be at complete war with one another: while the education given to women—an education of the sentiments rather than of the understanding—and the habit inculcated by their whole life, of looking to immediate effects on persons, and not to remote effects on classes of persons—make them both unable to see, and unwilling124 to admit, the ultimate evil tendency of any form of charity or philanthropy which commends itself to their sympathetic feelings. The great and continually increasing mass of unenlightened and shortsighted benevolence125, which, taking the care of people's lives out of their own hands, and relieving them from the disagreeable consequences of their own acts, saps the very foundations of the self-respect, self-help, and self-control which are the essential conditions both of individual prosperity and of social virtue—this waste of resources and of benevolent126 feelings in doing harm instead of good, is immensely swelled127 by women's contributions, and stimulated129 by their influence. Not that this is [Pg 164] a mistake likely to be made by women, where they have actually the practical management of schemes of beneficence. It sometimes happens that women who administer public charities—with that insight into present fact, and especially into the minds and feelings of those with whom they are in immediate contact, in which women generally excel men—recognise in the clearest manner the demoralizing influence of the alms given or the help afforded, and could give lessons on the subject to many a male political economist130. But women who only give their money, and are not brought face to face with the effects it produces, how can they be expected to foresee them? A woman born to the present lot of women, and content with it, how should she appreciate the value of self-dependence? She is not self-dependent; she is not taught self-dependence; her destiny is to receive everything from others, and why should what is good enough for her be bad for the poor? Her familiar notions of good are of blessings131 descending132 from a superior. She forgets that she is not free, and that the poor are; that if what they need is given to them unearned, they cannot be compelled to earn it: that everybody cannot be taken care of by everybody, but there must be some motive to induce people to take care of themselves; and that to be helped to help themselves, if they are physically133 capable [Pg 165] of it, is the only charity which proves to be charity in the end.
These considerations show how usefully the part which women take in the formation of general opinion, would be modified for the better by that more enlarged instruction, and practical conversancy134 with the things which their opinions influence, that would necessarily arise from their social and political emancipation135. But the improvement it would work through the influence they exercise, each in her own family, would be still more remarkable.
It is often said that in the classes most exposed to temptation, a man's wife and children tend to keep him honest and respectable, both by the wife's direct influence, and by the concern he feels for their future welfare. This may be so, and no doubt often is so, with those who are more weak than wicked; and this beneficial influence would be preserved and strengthened under equal laws; it does not depend on the woman's servitude, but is, on the contrary, diminished by the disrespect which the inferior class of men always at heart feel towards those who are subject to their power. But when we ascend136 higher in the scale, we come among a totally different set of moving forces. The wife's influence tends, as far as it goes, to prevent the husband from falling below the common standard [Pg 166] of approbation137 of the country. It tends quite as strongly to hinder him from rising above it. The wife is the auxiliary138 of the common public opinion. A man who is married to a woman his inferior in intelligence, finds her a perpetual dead weight, or, worse than a dead weight, a drag, upon every aspiration139 of his to be better than public opinion requires him to be. It is hardly possible for one who is in these bonds, to attain exalted140 virtue. If he differs in his opinion from the mass—if he sees truths which have not yet dawned upon them, or if, feeling in his heart truths which they nominally141 recognise, he would like to act up to those truths more conscientiously142 than the generality of mankind—to all such thoughts and desires, marriage is the heaviest of drawbacks, unless he be so fortunate as to have a wife as much above the common level as he himself is.
For, in the first place, there is always some sacrifice of personal interest required; either of social consequence, or of pecuniary143 means; perhaps the risk of even the means of subsistence. These sacrifices and risks he may be willing to encounter for himself; but he will pause before he imposes them on his family. And his family in this case means his wife and daughters; for he always hopes that his sons will feel as he feels himself, and that what he can do without, they [Pg 167] will do without, willingly, in the same cause. But his daughters—their marriage may depend upon it: and his wife, who is unable to enter into or understand the objects for which these sacrifices are made—who, if she thought them worth any sacrifice, would think so on trust, and solely for his sake—who can participate in none of the enthusiasm or the self-approbation he himself may feel, while the things which he is disposed to sacrifice are all in all to her; will not the best and most unselfish man hesitate the longest before bringing on her this consequence? If it be not the comforts of life, but only social consideration, that is at stake, the burthen upon his conscience and feelings is still very severe. Whoever has a wife and children has given hostages to Mrs. Grundy. The approbation of that potentate144 may be a matter of indifference145 to him, but it is of great importance to his wife. The man himself may be above opinion, or may find sufficient compensation in the opinion of those of his own way of thinking. But to the women connected with him, he can offer no compensation. The almost invariable tendency of the wife to place her influence in the same scale with social consideration, is sometimes made a reproach to women, and represented as a peculiar86 trait of feebleness and childishness of character in them: surely with great injustice. [Pg 168] Society makes the whole life of a woman, in the easy classes, a continued self-sacrifice; it exacts from her an unremitting restraint of the whole of her natural inclinations146, and the sole return it makes to her for what often deserves the name of a martyrdom, is consideration. Her consideration is inseparably connected with that of her husband, and after paying the full price for it, she finds that she is to lose it, for no reason of which she can feel the cogency148. She has sacrificed her whole life to it, and her husband will not sacrifice to it a whim149, a freak, an eccentricity150; something not recognised or allowed for by the world, and which the world will agree with her in thinking a folly151, if it thinks no worse! The dilemma152 is hardest upon that very meritorious153 class of men, who, without possessing talents which qualify them to make a figure among those with whom they agree in opinion, hold their opinion from conviction, and feel bound in honour and conscience to serve it, by making profession of their belief, and giving their time, labour, and means, to anything undertaken in its behalf. The worst case of all is when such men happen to be of a rank and position which of itself neither gives them, nor excludes them from, what is considered the best society; when their admission to it depends mainly on what is thought of them personally—and however unexceptionable [Pg 169] their breeding and habits, their being identified with opinions and public conduct unacceptable to those who give the tone to society would operate as an effectual exclusion154. Many a woman flatters herself (nine times out of ten quite erroneously) that nothing prevents her and her husband from moving in the highest society of her neighbourhood—society in which others well known to her, and in the same class of life, mix freely—except that her husband is unfortunately a Dissenter156, or has the reputation of mingling157 in low radical158 politics. That it is, she thinks, which hinders George from getting a commission or a place, Caroline from making an advantageous159 match, and prevents her and her husband from obtaining invitations, perhaps honours, which, for aught she sees, they are as well entitled to as some folks. With such an influence in every house, either exerted actively160, or operating all the more powerfully for not being asserted, is it any wonder that people in general are kept down in that mediocrity of respectability which is becoming a marked characteristic of modern times?
There is another very injurious aspect in which the effect, not of women's disabilities directly, but of the broad line of difference which those disabilities create between the education and character of a woman and that of a man, requires to [Pg 170] be considered. Nothing can be more unfavourable to that union of thoughts and inclinations which is the ideal of married life. Intimate society between people radically161 dissimilar to one another, is an idle dream. Unlikeness may attract, but it is likeness162 which retains; and in proportion to the likeness is the suitability of the individuals to give each other a happy life. While women are so unlike men, it is not wonderful that selfish men should feel the need of arbitrary power in their own hands, to arrest in limine the life-long conflict of inclinations, by deciding every question on the side of their own preference. When people are extremely unlike, there can be no real identity of interest. Very often there is conscientious difference of opinion between married people, on the highest points of duty. Is there any reality in the marriage union where this takes place? Yet it is not uncommon163 anywhere, when the woman has any earnestness of character; and it is a very general case indeed in Catholic countries, when she is supported in her dissent155 by the only other authority to which she is taught to bow, the priest. With the usual barefacedness of power not accustomed to find itself disputed, the influence of priests over women is attacked by Protestant and Liberal writers, less for being bad in itself, than because it is a rival authority to the husband, and raises up a revolt against his infallibility. [Pg 171] In England, similar differences occasionally exist when an Evangelical wife has allied164 herself with a husband of a different quality; but in general this source at least of dissension is got rid of, by reducing the minds of women to such a nullity, that they have no opinions but those of Mrs. Grundy, or those which the husband tells them to have. When there is no difference of opinion, differences merely of taste may be sufficient to detract greatly from the happiness of married life. And though it may stimulate128 the amatory propensities of men, it does not conduce to married happiness, to exaggerate by differences of education whatever may be the native differences of the sexes. If the married pair are well-bred and well-behaved people, they tolerate each other's tastes; but is mutual165 toleration what people look forward to, when they enter into marriage? These differences of inclination147 will naturally make their wishes different, if not restrained by affection or duty, as to almost all domestic questions which arise. What a difference there must be in the society which the two persons will wish to frequent, or be frequented by! Each will desire associates who share their own tastes: the persons agreeable to one, will be indifferent or positively disagreeable to the other; yet there can be none who are not common to both, for married people do not now live in different [Pg 172] parts of the house and have totally different visiting lists, as in the reign104 of Louis XV. They cannot help having different wishes as to the bringing up of the children: each will wish to see reproduced in them their own tastes and sentiments: and there is either a compromise, and only a half-satisfaction to either, or the wife has to yield—often with bitter suffering; and, with or without intention, her occult influence continues to counterwork the husband's purposes.
It would of course be extreme folly to suppose that these differences of feeling and inclination only exist because women are brought up differently from men, and that there would not be differences of taste under any imaginable circumstances. But there is nothing beyond the mark in saying that the distinction in bringing-up immensely aggravates166 those differences, and renders them wholly inevitable. While women are brought up as they are, a man and a woman will but rarely find in one another real agreement of tastes and wishes as to daily life. They will generally have to give it up as hopeless, and renounce167 the attempt to have, in the intimate associate of their daily life, that idem velle, idem nolle, which is the recognised bond of any society that is really such: or if the man succeeds in obtaining it, he does so by choosing a woman who is so complete a nullity that she has no [Pg 173] velle or nolle at all, and is as ready to comply with one thing as another if anybody tells her to do so. Even this calculation is apt to fail; dulness and want of spirit are not always a guarantee of the submission which is so confidently expected from them. But if they were, is this the ideal of marriage? What, in this case, does the man obtain by it, except an upper servant, a nurse, or a mistress? On the contrary, when each of two persons, instead of being a nothing, is a something; when they are attached to one another, and are not too much unlike to begin with; the constant partaking in the same things, assisted by their sympathy, draws out the latent capacities of each for being interested in the things which were at first interesting only to the other; and works a gradual assimilation of the tastes and characters to one another, partly by the insensible modification113 of each, but more by a real enriching of the two natures, each acquiring the tastes and capacities of the other in addition to its own. This often happens between two friends of the same sex, who are much associated in their daily life: and it would be a common, if not the commonest, case in marriage, did not the totally different bringing-up of the two sexes make it next to an impossibility to form a really well-assorted union. Were this remedied, whatever differences there might still [Pg 174] be in individual tastes, there would at least be, as a general rule, complete unity168 and unanimity169 as to the great objects of life. When the two persons both care for great objects, and are a help and encouragement to each other in whatever regards these, the minor170 matters on which their tastes may differ are not all-important to them; and there is a foundation for solid friendship, of an enduring character, more likely than anything else to make it, through the whole of life, a greater pleasure to each to give pleasure to the other, than to receive it.
I have considered, thus far, the effects on the pleasures and benefits of the marriage union which depend on the mere unlikeness between the wife and the husband: but the evil tendency is prodigiously171 aggravated172 when the unlikeness is inferiority. Mere unlikeness, when it only means difference of good qualities, may be more a benefit in the way of mutual improvement, than a drawback from comfort. When each emulates173, and desires and endeavours to acquire, the other's peculiar qualities, the difference does not produce diversity of interest, but increased identity of it, and makes each still more valuable to the other. But when one is much the inferior of the two in mental ability and cultivation, and is not actively attempting by the other's aid to rise to the other's level, the whole influence of the connexion upon [Pg 175] the development of the superior of the two is deteriorating174: and still more so in a tolerably happy marriage than in an unhappy one. It is not with impunity175 that the superior in intellect shuts himself up with an inferior, and elects that inferior for his chosen, and sole completely intimate, associate. Any society which is not improving, is deteriorating: and the more so, the closer and more familiar it is. Even a really superior man almost always begins to deteriorate176 when he is habitually (as the phrase is) king of his company: and in his most habitual29 company the husband who has a wife inferior to him is always so. While his self-satisfaction is incessantly177 ministered to on the one hand, on the other he insensibly imbibes178 the modes of feeling, and of looking at things, which belong to a more vulgar or a more limited mind than his own. This evil differs from many of those which have hitherto been dwelt on, by being an increasing one. The association of men with women in daily life is much closer and more complete than it ever was before. Men's life is more domestic. Formerly179, their pleasures and chosen occupations were among men, and in men's company: their wives had but a fragment of their lives. At the present time, the progress of civilization, and the turn of opinion against the rough amusements and convivial180 excesses which formerly occupied most men [Pg 176] in their hours of relaxation—together with (it must be said) the improved tone of modern feeling as to the reciprocity of duty which binds181 the husband towards the wife—have thrown the man very much more upon home and its inmates182, for his personal and social pleasures: while the kind and degree of improvement which has been made in women's education, has made them in some degree capable of being his companions in ideas and mental tastes, while leaving them, in most cases, still hopelessly inferior to him. His desire of mental communion is thus in general satisfied by a communion from which he learns nothing. An unimproving and unstimulating companionship is substituted for (what he might otherwise have been obliged to seek) the society of his equals in powers and his fellows in the higher pursuits. We see, accordingly, that young men of the greatest promise generally cease to improve as soon as they marry, and, not improving, inevitably183 degenerate184. If the wife does not push the husband forward, she always holds him back. He ceases to care for what she does not care for; he no longer desires, and ends by disliking and shunning185, society congenial to his former aspirations186, and which would now shame his falling-off from them; his higher faculties both of mind and heart cease to be called into activity. And this change coinciding with the new and [Pg 177] selfish interests which are created by the family, after a few years he differs in no material respect from those who have never had wishes for anything but the common vanities and the common pecuniary objects.
What marriage may be in the case of two persons of cultivated faculties, identical in opinions and purposes, between whom there exists that best kind of equality, similarity of powers and capacities with reciprocal superiority in them—so that each can enjoy the luxury of looking up to the other, and can have alternately the pleasure of leading and of being led in the path of development—I will not attempt to describe. To those who can conceive it, there is no need; to those who cannot, it would appear the dream of an enthusiast187. But I maintain, with the profoundest conviction, that this, and this only, is the ideal of marriage; and that all opinions, customs, and institutions which favour any other notion of it, or turn the conceptions and aspirations connected with it into any other direction, by whatever pretences188 they may be coloured, are relics189 of primitive190 barbarism. The moral regeneration of mankind will only really commence, when the most fundamental of the social relations is placed under the rule of equal justice, and when human beings learn to cultivate their strongest sympathy with an equal in rights and in cultivation. [Pg 178]
Thus far, the benefits which it has appeared that the world would gain by ceasing to make sex a disqualification for privileges and a badge of subjection, are social rather than individual; consisting in an increase of the general fund of thinking and acting191 power, and an improvement in the general conditions of the association of men with women. But it would be a grievous understatement of the case to omit the most direct benefit of all, the unspeakable gain in private happiness to the liberated192 half of the species; the difference to them between a life of subjection to the will of others, and a life of rational freedom. After the primary necessities of food and raiment, freedom is the first and strongest want of human nature. While mankind are lawless, their desire is for lawless freedom. When they have learnt to understand the meaning of duty and the value of reason, they incline more and more to be guided and restrained by these in the exercise of their freedom; but they do not therefore desire freedom less; they do not become disposed to accept the will of other people as the representative and interpreter of those guiding principles. On the contrary, the communities in which the reason has been most cultivated, and in which the idea of social duty has been most powerful, are those which have most strongly asserted the freedom [Pg 179] of action of the individual—the liberty of each to govern his conduct by his own feelings of duty, and by such laws and social restraints as his own conscience can subscribe193 to.
He who would rightly appreciate the worth of personal independence as an element of happiness, should consider the value he himself puts upon it as an ingredient of his own. There is no subject on which there is a greater habitual difference of judgment between a man judging for himself, and the same man judging for other people. When he hears others complaining that they are not allowed freedom of action—that their own will has not sufficient influence in the regulation of their affairs—his inclination is, to ask, what are their grievances195? what positive damage they sustain? and in what respect they consider their affairs to be mismanaged? and if they fail to make out, in answer to these questions, what appears to him a sufficient case, he turns a deaf ear, and regards their complaint as the fanciful querulousness of people whom nothing reasonable will satisfy. But he has a quite different standard of judgment when he is deciding for himself. Then, the most unexceptionable administration of his interests by a tutor set over him, does not satisfy his feelings: his personal exclusion from the deciding authority appears itself the greatest grievance194 of all, rendering it superfluous196 even to [Pg 180] enter into the question of mismanagement. It is the same with nations. What citizen of a free country would listen to any offers of good and skilful197 administration, in return for the abdication198 of freedom? Even if he could believe that good and skilful administration can exist among a people ruled by a will not their own, would not the consciousness of working out their own destiny under their own moral responsibility be a compensation to his feelings for great rudeness and imperfection in the details of public affairs? Let him rest assured that whatever he feels on this point, women feel in a fully13 equal degree. Whatever has been said or written, from the time of Herodotus to the present, of the ennobling influence of free government—the nerve and spring which it gives to all the faculties, the larger and higher objects which it presents to the intellect and feelings, the more unselfish public spirit, and calmer and broader views of duty, that it engenders199, and the generally loftier platform on which it elevates the individual as a moral, spiritual, and social being—is every particle as true of women as of men. Are these things no important part of individual happiness? Let any man call to mind what he himself felt on emerging from boyhood—from the tutelage and control of even loved and affectionate elders—and entering upon the responsibilities of manhood. [Pg 181] Was it not like the physical effect of taking off a heavy weight, or releasing him from obstructive, even if not otherwise painful, bonds? Did he not feel twice as much alive, twice as much a human being, as before? And does he imagine that women have none of these feelings? But it is a striking fact, that the satisfactions and mortifications of personal pride, though all in all to most men when the case is their own, have less allowance made for them in the case of other people, and are less listened to as a ground or a justification200 of conduct, than any other natural human feelings; perhaps because men compliment them in their own case with the names of so many other qualities, that they are seldom conscious how mighty201 an influence these feelings exercise in their own lives. No less large and powerful is their part, we may assure ourselves, in the lives and feelings of women. Women are schooled into suppressing them in their most natural and most healthy direction, but the internal principle remains, in a different outward form. An active and energetic mind, if denied liberty, will seek for power: refused the command of itself, it will assert its personality by attempting to control others. To allow to any human beings no existence of their own but what depends on others, is giving far too high a premium202 on bending others to their purposes. [Pg 182] Where liberty cannot be hoped for, and power can, power becomes the grand object of human desire; those to whom others will not leave the undisturbed management of their own affairs, will compensate203 themselves, if they can, by meddling204 for their own purposes with the affairs of others. Hence also women's passion for personal beauty, and dress and display; and all the evils that flow from it, in the way of mischievous luxury and social immorality205. The love of power and the love of liberty are in eternal antagonism206. Where there is least liberty, the passion for power is the most ardent207 and unscrupulous. The desire of power over others can only cease to be a depraving agency among mankind, when each of them individually is able to do without it: which can only be where respect for liberty in the personal concerns of each is an established principle.
But it is not only through the sentiment of personal dignity, that the free direction and disposal of their own faculties is a source of individual happiness, and to be fettered208 and restricted in it, a source of unhappiness, to human beings, and not least to women. There is nothing, after disease, indigence209, and guilt210, so fatal to the pleasurable enjoyment211 of life as the want of a worthy212 outlet213 for the active faculties. Women who have the cares of a family, and while they have the cares of a family, have this outlet, and it generally [Pg 183] suffices for them: but what of the greatly increasing number of women, who have had no opportunity of exercising the vocation214 which they are mocked by telling them is their proper one? What of the women whose children have been lost to them by death or distance, or have grown up, married, and formed homes of their own? There are abundant examples of men who, after a life engrossed215 by business, retire with a competency to the enjoyment, as they hope, of rest, but to whom, as they are unable to acquire new interests and excitements that can replace the old, the change to a life of inactivity brings ennui216, melancholy217, and premature218 death. Yet no one thinks of the parallel case of so many worthy and devoted219 women, who, having paid what they are told is their debt to society—having brought up a family blamelessly to manhood and womanhood—having kept a house as long as they had a house needing to be kept—are deserted220 by the sole occupation for which they have fitted themselves; and remain with undiminished activity but with no employment for it, unless perhaps a daughter or daughter-in-law is willing to abdicate221 in their favour the discharge of the same functions in her younger household. Surely a hard lot for the old age of those who have worthily222 discharged, as long as it was given to them to discharge, what the world accounts their only [Pg 184] social duty. Of such women, and of those others to whom this duty has not been committed at all—many of whom pine through life with the consciousness of thwarted223 vocations224, and activities which are not suffered to expand—the only resources, speaking generally, are religion and charity. But their religion, though it may be one of feeling, and of ceremonial observance, cannot be a religion of action, unless in the form of charity. For charity many of them are by nature admirably fitted; but to practise it usefully, or even without doing mischief122, requires the education, the manifold preparation, the knowledge and the thinking powers, of a skilful administrator. There are few of the administrative225 functions of government for which a person would not be fit, who is fit to bestow charity usefully. In this as in other cases (pre-eminently in that of the education of children), the duties permitted to women cannot be performed properly, without their being trained for duties which, to the great loss of society, are not permitted to them. And here let me notice the singular way in which the question of women's disabilities is frequently presented to view, by those who find it easier to draw a ludicrous picture of what they do not like, than to answer the arguments for it. When it is suggested that women's executive capacities and prudent226 counsels might sometimes [Pg 185] be found valuable in affairs of state, these lovers of fun hold up to the ridicule227 of the world, as sitting in parliament or in the cabinet, girls in their teens, or young wives of two or three and twenty, transported bodily, exactly as they are, from the drawing-room to the House of Commons. They forget that males are not usually selected at this early age for a seat in Parliament, or for responsible political functions. Common sense would tell them that if such trusts were confided228 to women, it would be to such as having no special vocation for married life, or preferring another employment of their faculties (as many women even now prefer to marriage some of the few honourable occupations within their reach), have spent the best years of their youth in attempting to qualify themselves for the pursuits in which they desire to engage; or still more frequently perhaps, widows or wives of forty or fifty, by whom the knowledge of life and faculty of government which they have acquired in their families, could by the aid of appropriate studies be made available on a less contracted scale. There is no country of Europe in which the ablest men have not frequently experienced, and keenly appreciated, the value of the advice and help of clever and experienced women of the world, in the attainment229 both of private and of public objects; and [Pg 186] there are important matters of public administration to which few men are equally competent with such women; among others, the detailed230 control of expenditure231. But what we are now discussing is not the need which society has of the services of women in public business, but the dull and hopeless life to which it so often condemns232 them, by forbidding them to exercise the practical abilities which many of them are conscious of, in any wider field than one which to some of them never was, and to others is no longer, open. If there is anything vitally important to the happiness of human beings, it is that they should relish234 their habitual pursuit. This requisite235 of an enjoyable life is very imperfectly granted, or altogether denied, to a large part of mankind; and by its absence many a life is a failure, which is provided, in appearance, with every requisite of success. But if circumstances which society is not yet skilful enough to overcome, render such failures often for the present inevitable, society need not itself inflict236 them. The injudiciousness of parents, a youth's own inexperience, or the absence of external opportunities for the congenial vocation, and their presence for an uncongenial, condemn233 numbers of men to pass their lives in doing one thing reluctantly and ill, when there are other things which they could have done well and happily. But on [Pg 187] women this sentence is imposed by actual law, and by customs equivalent to law. What, in unenlightened societies, colour, race, religion, or in the case of a conquered country, nationality, are to some men, sex is to all women; a peremptory237 exclusion from almost all honourable occupations, but either such as cannot be fulfilled by others, or such as those others do not think worthy of their acceptance. Sufferings arising from causes of this nature usually meet with so little sympathy, that few persons are aware of the great amount of unhappiness even now produced by the feeling of a wasted life. The case will be even more frequent, as increased cultivation creates a greater and greater disproportion between the ideas and faculties of women, and the scope which society allows to their activity.
When we consider the positive evil caused to the disqualified half of the human race by their disqualification—first in the loss of the most inspiriting and elevating kind of personal enjoyment, and next in the weariness, disappointment, and profound dissatisfaction with life, which are so often the substitute for it; one feels that among all the lessons which men require for carrying on the struggle against the inevitable imperfections of their lot on earth, there is no lesson which they more need, than not to add to the evils which nature inflicts238, by their jealous [Pg 188] and prejudiced restrictions239 on one another. Their vain fears only substitute other and worse evils for those which they are idly apprehensive240 of: while every restraint on the freedom of conduct of any of their human fellow creatures, (otherwise than by making them responsible for any evil actually caused by it), dries up pro3 tanto the principal fountain of human happiness, and leaves the species less rich, to an inappreciable degree, in all that makes life valuable to the individual human being.
THE END.
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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importunately
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pro
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| n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者 | |
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attain
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| vt.达到，获得，完成 | |
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publicity
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| n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告 | |
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intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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brutally
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| adv.残忍地，野蛮地，冷酷无情地 | |
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curb
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| n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制 | |
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propensities
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| n.倾向，习性( propensity的名词复数 ) | |
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monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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faculty
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| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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bondage
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| n.奴役，束缚 | |
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outweigh
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| vt.比...更重，...更重要 | |
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honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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pervading
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| v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的现在分词 ) | |
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injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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derive
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nourishment
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exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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frivolous
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| adj.轻薄的；轻率的 | |
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stolid
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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habitually
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habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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postponed
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| vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发） | |
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chivalrous
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| adj.武士精神的；对女人彬彬有礼的 | |
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dominion
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| n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图 | |
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inoculated
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sublime
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partnership
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pervert
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| n.堕落者，反常者；vt.误用，滥用；使人堕落，使入邪路 | |
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hereditary
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vassal
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| n.附庸的；属下；adj.奴仆的 | |
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unlimited
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| adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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vassals
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| n.奴仆( vassal的名词复数 )；（封建时代）诸侯；从属者；下属 | |
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monarch
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| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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feudal
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| adj.封建的，封地的，领地的 | |
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46
pluming
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| 用羽毛装饰（plume的现在分词形式） | |
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47
humility
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| n.谦逊，谦恭 | |
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48
conscientious
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| adj.审慎正直的，认真的，本着良心的 | |
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49
arrogance
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| n.傲慢，自大 | |
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50
vices
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| 缺陷( vice的名词复数 )； 恶习； 不道德行为； 台钳 | |
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51
curbed
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| v.限制，克制，抑制( curb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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52
intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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53
contradictory
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| adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立 | |
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54
perverting
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| v.滥用( pervert的现在分词 )；腐蚀；败坏；使堕落 | |
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55
efface
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| v.擦掉，抹去 | |
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56
citadel
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| n.城堡；堡垒；避难所 | |
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57
deference
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| n.尊重，顺从；敬意 | |
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58
faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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59
qualified
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| adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的 | |
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60
administrator
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| n.经营管理者，行政官员 | |
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61
circumscribed
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| adj.[医]局限的：受限制或限于有限空间的v.在…周围划线( circumscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；划定…范围；限制；限定 | |
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62
deduction
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| n.减除，扣除，减除额；推论，推理，演绎 | |
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63
stimulus
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| n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物 | |
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64
speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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65
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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66
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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67
interdicted
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| v.禁止（行动）( interdict的过去式和过去分词 )；禁用；限制 | |
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68
participation
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| n.参与，参加，分享 | |
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69
dispense
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| vt.分配，分发；配(药)，发(药)；实施 | |
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70
proffers
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| v.提供，贡献，提出( proffer的第三人称单数 ) | |
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71
deter
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| vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住 | |
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72
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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73
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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74
softening
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| 变软，软化 | |
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75
mitigating
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| v.减轻，缓和( mitigate的现在分词 ) | |
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76
bridling
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| 给…套龙头( bridle的现在分词 )； 控制； 昂首表示轻蔑（或怨忿等）； 动怒，生气 | |
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77
conquerors
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| 征服者，占领者( conqueror的名词复数 ) | |
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78
creed
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| n.信条；信念，纲领 | |
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79
favourable
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|
| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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80
conversion
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| n.转化，转换，转变 | |
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81
conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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82
virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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83
eminent
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| adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的 | |
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84
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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85
chivalry
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|
| n.骑士气概，侠义；（男人）对女人彬彬有礼，献殷勤 | |
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86
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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87
peculiarity
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| n.独特性，特色；特殊的东西；怪癖 | |
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88
cultivation
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| n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成 | |
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89
generosity
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| n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为 | |
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90
submission
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| n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出 | |
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91
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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92
bestow
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| v.把…赠与，把…授予；花费 | |
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93
extorting
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| v.敲诈( extort的现在分词 )；曲解 | |
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94
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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95
frustrated
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|
| adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧 | |
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96
entirely
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|
| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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97
acme
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| n.顶点，极点 | |
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98
lamented
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|
| adj.被哀悼的，令人遗憾的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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99
inevitable
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|
| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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100
delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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101
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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102
exigencies
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| n.急切需要 | |
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103
prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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104
reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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105
reigned
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| vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式） | |
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106
dependence
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| n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属 | |
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107
penal
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| adj.刑罚的；刑法上的 | |
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108
rendering
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| n.表现，描写 | |
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109
conjugal
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| adj.婚姻的，婚姻性的 | |
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110
merged
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| （使）混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中 | |
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111
contagion
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| n.(通过接触的疾病)传染；蔓延 | |
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112
modifications
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| n.缓和( modification的名词复数 )；限制；更改；改变 | |
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113
modification
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| n.修改，改进，缓和，减轻 | |
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114
potent
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| adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的 | |
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115
auxiliaries
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| n.助动词 ( auxiliary的名词复数 )；辅助工，辅助人员 | |
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116
disinterestedness
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117
promotion
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| n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传 | |
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118
addiction
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| n.上瘾入迷，嗜好 | |
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119
mischievous
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| adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的 | |
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120
embittering
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| v.使怨恨，激怒( embitter的现在分词 ) | |
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121
heeding
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| v.听某人的劝告，听从( heed的现在分词 ) | |
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122
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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123
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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124
unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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125
benevolence
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| n.慈悲，捐助 | |
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126
benevolent
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|
| adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的 | |
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127
swelled
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| 增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
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128
stimulate
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| vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋 | |
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129
stimulated
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| a.刺激的 | |
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130
economist
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| n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人 | |
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131
blessings
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| n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福 | |
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132
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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133
physically
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| adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律 | |
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134
conversancy
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| n.熟练，精通 | |
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135
emancipation
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| n.（从束缚、支配下）解放 | |
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136
ascend
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| vi.渐渐上升，升高；vt.攀登，登上 | |
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137
approbation
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| n.称赞；认可 | |
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138
auxiliary
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| adj.辅助的，备用的 | |
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139
aspiration
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| n.志向，志趣抱负；渴望；(语)送气音；吸出 | |
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140
exalted
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| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
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141
nominally
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| 在名义上，表面地； 应名儿 | |
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142
conscientiously
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| adv.凭良心地；认真地，负责尽职地；老老实实 | |
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143
pecuniary
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| adj.金钱的；金钱上的 | |
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144
potentate
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| n.统治者；君主 | |
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145
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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146
inclinations
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| 倾向( inclination的名词复数 )； 倾斜； 爱好； 斜坡 | |
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147
inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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148
cogency
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| n.说服力；adj.有说服力的 | |
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149
whim
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| n.一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想 | |
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150
eccentricity
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| n.古怪，反常，怪癖 | |
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151
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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152
dilemma
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| n.困境，进退两难的局面 | |
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153
meritorious
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| adj.值得赞赏的 | |
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154
exclusion
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| n.拒绝，排除，排斥，远足，远途旅行 | |
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155
dissent
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| n./v.不同意，持异议 | |
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156
dissenter
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| n.反对者 | |
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157
mingling
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| adj.混合的 | |
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158
radical
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| n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的 | |
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159
advantageous
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| adj.有利的；有帮助的 | |
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160
actively
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| adv.积极地，勤奋地 | |
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161
radically
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| ad.根本地，本质地 | |
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162
likeness
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| n.相像，相似（之处） | |
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163
uncommon
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| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
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164
allied
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| adj.协约国的；同盟国的 | |
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165
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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166
aggravates
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| 使恶化( aggravate的第三人称单数 )； 使更严重； 激怒； 使恼火 | |
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167
renounce
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| v.放弃；拒绝承认，宣布与…断绝关系 | |
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168
unity
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| n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调 | |
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169
unanimity
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| n.全体一致，一致同意 | |
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170
minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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171
prodigiously
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| adv.异常地，惊人地，巨大地 | |
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172
aggravated
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| 使恶化( aggravate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使更严重； 激怒； 使恼火 | |
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173
emulates
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| v.与…竞争( emulate的第三人称单数 )；努力赶上；计算机程序等仿真；模仿 | |
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174
deteriorating
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|
| 恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 ) | |
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175
impunity
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| n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除 | |
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176
deteriorate
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|
| v.变坏；恶化；退化 | |
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incessantly
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| ad.不停地 | |
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178
imbibes
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| v.吸收( imbibe的第三人称单数 )；喝；吸取；吸气 | |
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179
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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convivial
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| adj.狂欢的，欢乐的 | |
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181
binds
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| v.约束( bind的第三人称单数 )；装订；捆绑；（用长布条）缠绕 | |
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182
inmates
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| n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 ) | |
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183
inevitably
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| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
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184
degenerate
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| v.退步，堕落；adj.退步的，堕落的；n.堕落者 | |
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185
shunning
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| v.避开，回避，避免( shun的现在分词 ) | |
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186
aspirations
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| 强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音 | |
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187
enthusiast
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| n.热心人，热衷者 | |
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188
pretences
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| n.假装( pretence的名词复数 )；作假；自命；自称 | |
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189
relics
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| [pl.］n.遗物，遗迹，遗产；遗体，尸骸 | |
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190
primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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191
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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192
liberated
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| a.无拘束的，放纵的 | |
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193
subscribe
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| vi.(to)订阅，订购；同意；vt.捐助，赞助 | |
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194
grievance
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| n.怨愤，气恼，委屈 | |
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195
grievances
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| n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚 | |
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196
superfluous
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| adj.过多的，过剩的，多余的 | |
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197
skilful
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| (=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的 | |
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198
abdication
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| n.辞职；退位 | |
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199
engenders
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| v.产生（某形势或状况），造成，引起( engender的第三人称单数 ) | |
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200
justification
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| n.正当的理由；辩解的理由 | |
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201
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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202
premium
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| n.加付款；赠品；adj.高级的；售价高的 | |
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203
compensate
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| vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消 | |
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204
meddling
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| v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的现在分词 ) | |
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205
immorality
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| n. 不道德, 无道义 | |
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206
antagonism
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| n.对抗，敌对，对立 | |
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207
ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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208
fettered
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| v.给…上脚镣，束缚( fetter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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209
indigence
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| n.贫穷 | |
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210
guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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211
enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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212
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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213
outlet
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| n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄 | |
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214
vocation
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| n.职业，行业 | |
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engrossed
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| adj.全神贯注的 | |
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216
ennui
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| n.怠倦，无聊 | |
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217
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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218
premature
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| adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的 | |
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219
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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221
abdicate
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| v.让位，辞职，放弃 | |
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222
worthily
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| 重要地，可敬地，正当地 | |
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223
thwarted
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| 阻挠( thwart的过去式和过去分词 )； 使受挫折； 挫败； 横过 | |
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224
vocations
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| n.（认为特别适合自己的）职业( vocation的名词复数 )；使命；神召；（认为某种工作或生活方式特别适合自己的）信心 | |
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225
administrative
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| adj.行政的，管理的 | |
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226
prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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227
ridicule
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| v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄 | |
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228
confided
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| v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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229
attainment
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| n.达到，到达；［常pl.］成就，造诣 | |
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230
detailed
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| adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的 | |
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231
expenditure
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| n.(时间、劳力、金钱等)支出；使用，消耗 | |
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232
condemns
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| v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的第三人称单数 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地 | |
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233
condemn
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| vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑 | |
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234
relish
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| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
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235
requisite
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| adj.需要的，必不可少的；n.必需品 | |
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236
inflict
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| vt.(on)把…强加给，使遭受，使承担 | |
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237
peremptory
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| adj.紧急的，专横的，断然的 | |
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238
inflicts
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的第三人称单数 ) | |
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239
restrictions
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| 约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则） | |
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240
apprehensive
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| adj.担心的，恐惧的，善于领会的 | |
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