, 1870-04-03
~ !, = WoMAB. ::
tho kounEer on The Woman
s"on-A French View OF the

!; ! NC s0 nAns1ase from 1.te number at L. p;oa
! ~. .''o"'ae criticism Of Albert Wolf. one OF
rutalnent Writers, on the preface which Alex
~, has sn1xed to the recent edition Of b
eo"cdJ The Amt des Fsmnes, az, a. irast. 4 nor
treatment Of the woman question;
ina prefaces with which the younger DUN,
aao5ns The edition Of his complete drhmxt
az @G.4 afe becoming literary oyents; TIC page
nued With bsilliancJ md penetratine obseey;
~ ~ "Hch hs wrote for tho Dame our Cam
N Life Of the highest interest and willie
da.e ~ I not assert that the p1efaca Of tho 1t,
~ 99:I fe7nncI, which IL soon TO be published i
A!ehael Levy, is superior to its predecessor1
certainly sta y Is moro curious. A violent discu,
ole production, which I devoored =. Sict
Nnefe they were kind enough to send ma th
Ploois and 1t may even resemble = pi.che
;h na;hhue, Tor these Aixty exquisite pages, which
VII teproAch only for their occasionally ahov
n4 Predetermined crudity, will provoke th
sasmest md most pasaionAta disputations
Ae1aader Dumas, Ifls, therein ! pplies Il
WOMAN the demolition system OF Baron Hanas
nhnn, md this destroyer Of tho weak sex dos
nos go 70 work Intellectually; he respect
neiI.ef historic memories, traditions, or con
sendonaitieas al crumble uule. hia nen
nothing remains standing, and on the ruins b,
e.ee1s the new woman according to the goepe
o1 6aint Alexander
nts Is tAsk which AlwAya tempts thiuke,
J " tnAt peculiar style, whom othesn will doubt.
.ess G~n dreamer, for there are in reality
nnS e1Gellent pages in the preface 10 Tie
| anu aes fenanses, which might well, 1t ths firsi
I Blahcc, look Ike CtopiAn ideaa but on re.e.d,
lne more attentive1y this pamphlet against
Woman, such a abs has made harseK In Tho
nn1ssIf nsasa IN. .eenta ono ends By admitting to
these revcrios Of noble mind. / would not
advise mothers to read this book to their Young
daughters, but warmly urge them 10 fead Il
themselyes. You will certainly get soma good
the volume, curaing tho writer, but At The Dot
tom OF your conscience will str the little
monster nAned-temo1se.
Dumas 1nust, in tho first place, be appl4uded
Tor Judging linsal With perfect fairness ho
does not " 70 da1end his p1ay, which, be saws,
is badly done, At tbs attns momcnt That be
seeks to explain its defects TO himself, The
Author beGeyea that be should attribute the
ha4f failure OF his comedy to the crime Of high
treason against woman, which he committed
Il " hs opinion that success is not possible for
plays where the lnan is not sacrificed /, ths
woman, for feminine h1rd case cannot be
brought on the stage without e1cu4inR her
fault to the prejndice Of Soma man. Il the
d,.maast treats Of adultery, it is Law or society
which bare caat the poor, innocent creature on
Il Is our nAnners and customs that arc to
blame, never hsr. How remorsefol she is !
How abe weeps, and how sho loves! Altar what
, struggle, md with what grace, sho feIl
Foor, unsppEeciated woman? Poor fallen
angel! How her winga grow out again 1t the
how ahe Is mted!"
Well, the younger Dumas thinta that tis
AbominAhle crime conaiatsd less in writing !
comedy which lacked cleasnees, than in diafob-
ing Woman On tho stage, in soourBing her, 4nd
showing bar Inferior TO the man who fuIes her.
Did not this couccrn the beautiful female audi
tors who make = theatrical sueooas They de-
aire, according to Dnm2a, that woman sbouId
be represented publicly losding it over hes i'd
vefsa1y, humileting. orenhsowinE, killing,
his bosom, tes1 out his heart, AK for pardon,
and recognize her as the sovereign OF the uni-
verse, or be accursed and desperate since he
nisundezstood her.
In the preface OF tho Ami des le7au.cs, II.
Dumas tries to bring back this sovereign OF
wife, OF mother. He does not admit that WON
III is \ terrible, profound being, unfathomable
y the sea, mysterious and infinite As the ocean.
AL that is stupid stuN. says vauderillist Of
the Ps1aiA NoyAl. and II. Dumas says the same
thing, but with keener irony and moro dig
nided phrase. lie does not admit this non
sense which raises woman above humanity,
excuses Ill her faults, and mAkes her crca-
tuIs ~ sacred IS the white clephant-
Listen to the writer:
tQu WILL QOtlC6 At LU6 EYEt RlxQCG EuAI,
while woman is proclaimed, and declares her
sell, tho Queen Of the world, she never ceasea
to protest against the intellectual. mora, So
ciA1, and even political slavery in which man
holds her. Whence conea this contradiction
b1tween the two terms7 Nothing u slmpler;
il comes from this: In reality, collectively, SO
ciany, politically, woman submits 70 man. the
conqueHng, religious, ciyilizing mAn- He, on
the heights where hia genius places him, eu-
cApea the local influence Of woman, whose pre-
established function in the progress OF society
he knows.
sHe decrees, lie fixes, be imposes laws
which contlne her in marriage IN maternity. in
duty, and in modcsty, under penalty Of dis
honor and ruin after which. raising his eyes
higher, he leaves humanity. confronting that
divinity Of which he is .hs implscable agent.
pronls around her prison, searching in all the
corners, sounding the thickness Of the walls,
calculating the height OF the windows, looking
through the ksyholea, and concentrating her
self on this single though+'to ~! out OF
hese;.
Sho gathers Ill tho scraps she can find and be-
gins her Latuds's tAddeE, hiding when the
ialat comes in, and, unlike Penelope, working
more BY night than by day. But no sooner has
abe haen a11sse 10 fasten her ladder, and alp be-
tween tho bars; no sooner has she put foot
Oul4lQEs Ll181l H44E AI&1S VA LUG Eu8 Ql INC
wal1-that which is almost alWayn the moat op-
posite to l2ws-n2nnera and customs.
There she viii mike her rep1i8als. She
leaves the Lycurgueses 10 found Statse and the
ChriBts TO found religions, md does not tty
her power on them, for she knows well that
tiny, which protects them s8ainst her but she
turns to the vulgar, and, by replacing quality
by quantity, Acts like tho priest, aud anborlt-
nates hetHeH to few in order to govern le-
gions, and nominal subject, Ahe becomes \
real queen, and commands the crowd Of fools
who people cur globe The result Is that, il
but ono a,ae Of shings il seen, aud il woman is
told that she has 10 cause to complain, A.t
ahe is ali.powerfu1 etcetcra, ahe weeps, and
points you to the laxs; and il she is declared
inferior to man, and her power Is denied, she
laughs, ed points you to customs"
Who will dare to deny that this Is the verita-
bls truth In fact, woman has peculiarly
e1ceptionAble poeition where al is honor and
gain for her. When sho is merely what she
ought to be, respectable woman, we put her
On pedestal, and seem surprised At tie very
moment that We admire. When 4 woman
scales the conjug.l wall, It is slwavs the fault
Of come one else, never her own. She has 80
well arranged her miserable existence that she
rules everywhere, and controls the whole
world, while complaining that she has 70 bear
\ yoke unworthy Of . civilized being. Along
side Of the code which rules the social eyatem,
laws for the special uss Of womAn, and there il
not section in them which doee not deter
mine the ae4uittA Of the accused. She can
rtr1p tho traveller, and not be accused Of it /.
Poor creature! She can kin men without dam
ger: In good society one ought to knor how
10 die for woman ~ one dies for the coun-
try-a smile on the lp4 And satisfaction in the
soul. 4 woman dies OF love, which has oc-
CURED sometimes, though very rarely, aud all
the responsibility Of her death falls on the
-, ~ - f.r.
\ woman, what Of it; After al, he has done
but his duty
Now, in hls preface to the Ann des Femnes,
Dumas iI attempts to make WOMAN descend
from her pedestal and he does not 60 about it
with faliering hand. Between ourselves, l
nothing standing of what was in existence.
We will BEE presently what he puts in it's place.
Hero is the assault on the emancipation Of
woman By woman:
"Dcprsred Of nAn. woman does not act, she
struggles. She is duck who lays egSs, with
ont the dfake's taking any part in il. She
gives but false germs, which are eaten and do
not hatch. The emancipation Of WOMAN by
woman 10 one Of the most Inifth- provoking
jests ever bonn under the sun: 1t is pure pro-
receptacle were suddenly opened, to make God
laugh during eternity. Such is, however. the
rallying c1y OF these modern Annazons; these
Warriors who hAve burned on their right
breasts in order that they may bend the bow
to the utuost, and whom Hercules will con-
quer anew for il there is an AXIOM which says
thAt power abides With Law, there Is one get
more tue, that law alwaye abidcs with power.
Emancipation Of woman, renovation Of
WOMAN, these phrases, With which the ears Of
cur age have been filled. arn then, for us, de-
void Of meaning. Woman can no more be
cmancipated than the can be renovated. i the
word is French, aud it Is not. Ho1 function
and her destiny were established and deter