PREFACE

 The literature upon the right and the worth of woman, beginning as early as the 15th century, has in recent times increased so enormously that a complete collection would require a whole library building. In these writings are represented all classes, from tables of statistics to comic papers. Not only both sexes but almost all stages of life have contributed to it. By immersing oneself in this literature, especially in its belletristic and polemic¹ portions, one could find rich material for the illumination of that sphere to which the publisher limited my work: the indication of the new spiritual conditions, transformations², and reciprocal results which the woman movement has effected. Historic, scientific, political, economic, juridical, sociological, and theological points of view must, therefore, be practically set aside. But even for my task, limited to the psychological sphere, time, strength, and inclination³ are wanting to bury myself in this literature. I must, therefore, confine myself to giving chiefly my own observations.

It is more than fifty years ago that I read Hertha, Sweden’s first “feministic” (dealing with vithe woman question) novel, and listened to the numerous contentions⁴ concerning it. With ever keener personal interest I have since followed the operations of the woman movement—above all, the new psychic⁵ conditions, types, and forms of activities which the woman movement has evoked⁶; I have also given consideration to the new possibilities and new difficulties resulting therefrom for individuals and for society.

The limited compass of this little book prevents me from substantiating⁷ my assertions by means of parallels with earlier times, comparisons which might illuminate⁸ certain spiritual transformations and new formations. My comparisons of the present with the past do not go farther back than my own memory reaches. And these touch, moreover, in what concerns the past, principally upon Swedish conditions; while my impressions of the present were gathered throughout Europe. I have considered, however, that I could summarise⁹ both in a comprehensive picture. For although the women of Sweden a generation ago possessed¹⁰ rights for which the women in many countries are still struggling to-day, yet the woman movement in the last decade has advanced so rapidly that the conditions have in great measure been equalised. Indeed, some of the grey-haired champions of the woman movement have seen one after another of their demands fulfilled in this new century—demands which in the fifties and sixties, in many countries even in the seventies and eighties, viiwere publicly and privately¹¹ derided¹² even in the very person of these champions. And among peoples who even ten years ago were unaffected by the emancipation¹³ of women, for example the Chinese and the Turks, it is already progressing. It amounts to this, that even if national peculiarities¹⁴ in character and in laws occasion differences in the curve which the woman movement describes in the different countries, yet everywhere the movement has had the same causes, must follow the same main direction, and—sooner or later—must have the same effects.

In Hertha, the book containing the tenets of the Swedish woman movement, the demand is made for woman’s “freedom and future, and a home for her spiritual life”; the desire is expressed that women should “preserve the character of their own nature, and not be uniformly moulded, not be led by a string as if they had not a soul of their own to show them the way.” There must be “vital air for woman’s soul and a share in life’s riches.” It is to be lamented¹⁵ that “woman’s spiritual talent must be a field that lies fallow,” that the law “denies her free agency in seeking happiness.” The prerogative¹⁶ is demanded that “woman in noble self-conscious joy shall succeed in feeling what she is able to do now and what she is capable of attaining”; that she shall be free to “aspire to the heights her youthful strength and consciousness point out to her”; that she may viii“be fully¹⁷ herself and be able to exercise an uplifting, ennobling influence upon the man” to whom she says: “All that is mine shall be thine and thereby¹⁸ the portion of each shall be doubled.”

Even if all fields are made accessible to them, “God’s law in their nature will always lead the majority of women to the home, to the intimacy¹⁹ of the family life, to motherhood and the duties of rearing children—but with a higher consciousness.” That women shall be citizens signifies that they shall become “human beings in whom the life of the heart predominates.”

This picture of the future, which has already become a reality in many respects, was sketched²⁰ at a time when innumerable women were still compelled to experience that “there is no heavier burden than life’s emptiness,” and when it was true of every woman, “dark is her way, gloomy her future, narrow her lot.”

But because that which is, is always considered by the masses as that which ought to be, “whatever is, is right,” so the writer who painted the picture was called “dangerous,” “a disintegrator²¹ of society,” “mad,” “ridiculous”! “Mademoiselle Bremer’s” name possessed then quite a different intonation²² from that of Fredrika Bremer now; it caused strife²³ between the sexes; it was hated by some and derided by others.

I should like to advise young women of the present time to read Hertha; they will thus obtain a criterion for the progress which has taken place ixduring the last half century and also a clear view of the character of the opposition²⁴ which the present desire for progress encounters.

Ellen Key.

October 1, 1909.

1 polemic   

n.争论，论战

参考例句：

• He launched into a fierce polemic against the government's policies.他猛烈地抨击政府的政策。
• He wrote a splendid polemic in my favour.他写了一篇出色的文章为我辩护。

2 transformations   

n.变化( transformation的名词复数 )；转换；转换；变换

参考例句：

• Energy transformations go on constantly, all about us. 在我们周围，能量始终在不停地转换着。 来自辞典例句
• On the average, such transformations balance out. 平均起来，这种转化可以互相抵消。 来自辞典例句

3 inclination   

n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好

参考例句：

• She greeted us with a slight inclination of the head.她微微点头向我们致意。
• I did not feel the slightest inclination to hurry.我没有丝毫着急的意思。

4 contentions   

n.竞争( contention的名词复数 )；争夺；争论；论点

参考例句：

• Direct tests on individual particles do not support these contentions. 对单个粒子所作的直接试验并不支持这些论点。 来自辞典例句
• His contentions cannot be laughed out of court. 对他的争辩不能一笑置之。 来自辞典例句

5 psychic   

n.对超自然力敏感的人；adj.有超自然力的

参考例句：

• Some people are said to have psychic powers.据说有些人有通灵的能力。
• She claims to be psychic and to be able to foretell the future.她自称有特异功能，能预知未来。

6 evoked   

[医]诱发的

参考例句：

• The music evoked memories of her youth. 这乐曲勾起了她对青年时代的回忆。
• Her face, though sad, still evoked a feeling of serenity. 她的脸色虽然悲伤，但仍使人感觉安详。

7 substantiating   

v.用事实支持（某主张、说法等），证明，证实( substantiate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Darby Now faith is the substantiating of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 新旧库信仰乃是所盼望之事的实现心态，是未见之事的实验标准。 来自互联网
• Substantiating and enriching the world outlook theory is an effective way of perfecting philosophical method. 充实和丰富世界观理论是完善哲学方法的有效途径。 来自互联网

8 illuminate   

vt.照亮，照明；用灯光装饰；说明，阐释

参考例句：

• Dreams kindle a flame to illuminate our dark roads.梦想点燃火炬照亮我们黑暗的道路。
• They use games and drawings to illuminate their subject.他们用游戏和图画来阐明他们的主题。

9 summarise   

vt.概括，总结

参考例句：

• I will summarise what I have done.我将概述我所做的事情。
• Of course,no one article can summarise the complexities of china today.当然，没有哪一篇文章能概括出中国今日的复杂性。

10 possessed   

adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的

参考例句：

• He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
• He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。

11 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

12 derided   

v.取笑，嘲笑( deride的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His views were derided as old-fashioned. 他的观点被当作旧思想受到嘲弄。
• Gazing up to the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity. 我抬头疑视着黑暗，感到自己是一个被虚荣心驱使和拨弄的可怜虫。 来自辞典例句

13 emancipation   

n.（从束缚、支配下）解放

参考例句：

• We must arouse them to fight for their own emancipation. 我们必须唤起他们为其自身的解放而斗争。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They rejoiced over their own emancipation. 他们为自己的解放感到欢欣鼓舞。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 peculiarities   

n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪

参考例句：

• the cultural peculiarities of the English 英国人的文化特点
• He used to mimic speech peculiarities of another. 他过去总是模仿别人讲话的特点。

15 lamented   

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 )

参考例句：

• her late lamented husband 她那令人怀念的已故的丈夫
• We lamented over our bad luck. 我们为自己的不幸而悲伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 prerogative   

n.特权

参考例句：

• It is within his prerogative to do so.他是有权这样做的。
• Making such decisions is not the sole prerogative of managers.作这类决定并不是管理者的专有特权。

17 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

18 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。

19 intimacy   

n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行

参考例句：

• His claims to an intimacy with the President are somewhat exaggerated.他声称自己与总统关系密切，这有点言过其实。
• I wish there were a rule book for intimacy.我希望能有个关于亲密的规则。

20 sketched   

v.草拟（sketch的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The historical article sketched the major events of the decade. 这篇有关历史的文章概述了这十年中的重大事件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He sketched the situation in a few vivid words. 他用几句生动的语言简述了局势。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

21 disintegrator   

n.分解者，粉碎机

参考例句：

• Disintegrator-This will give your Eradicator Hexapod a close range anti-vehicle weapon. 分解者——这将给你的根除者提供一架近程反装甲武器。 来自互联网
• Excuse me over there have abandon plastic disintegrator to buy? 请问那里有废塑料的粉碎机买？ 来自互联网

22 intonation   

n.语调，声调；发声

参考例句：

• The teacher checks for pronunciation and intonation.老师在检查发音和语调。
• Questions are spoken with a rising intonation.疑问句是以升调说出来的。

23 strife   

n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争

参考例句：

• We do not intend to be drawn into the internal strife.我们不想卷入内乱之中。
• Money is a major cause of strife in many marriages.金钱是造成很多婚姻不和的一个主要原因。

24 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。