, 1874-02-14
WOMAN Ii 'RRNNGlISH :. LlTERATuRg,
The Heroines ofthe Great Writers.
A General Lack Of Strong Character,
-, .... ization.

! oiIA44au1 aopulattJ. NO GnSllbhfnaQ could h2re
written :'Camille;" he either gives US thu
grosauess Of " The New Msgdnleo," or tho purii.
ty of :" Christie Johnson" ANY one who can,
not cross the ocean has but to read Thaeko1ay to
have mental image Of the literary man, Young
swell, and old roue, Lord 6teynes and PEN
| dennises.
| We think of an Englishman in conaectlon
With
! ROAST BEEF ASD MurToS-cuors
I always imagine Pickwick eating and drinking
| until his jolly face is all aglow with happiness
II Dickens had left the lunches aud dinners ont
| Of his books, how hungry they would have been.
! Think OF Betsey Pzis and Sarah Camp Hishou.
| their gin; or " the Temperance nights, ren they
just laid foundation o tea to put the SPIRITS
! atop on!" hungry man can read Dickea:
with the same pleasure that newsboy looks at
the pies il the bakers window. The g1eas
novelist was fond OF the good things Of Tho
table, and disgusted Irving by his gormandizinc,
Thackeray don't depend upon eating and DRINK
ing to give his books relish; but his picture Of
Beckys breakfast is very tempting to woman.
Think Of the gentle Becky having her chocolate
brought to her bed eyery morning by her bus
band. Oh immortal Thackeray! you did
! MORE FOE wollAs
by that little picture than you injured her bY all
your slurs and eazcasns- But Becky was u,,-
grateful; and, after abe had driven this model
habits; for. when j. sedley called at her
humble lodgings, she hid the brauJy-bottle aud
dish of meat in tho bed. $3.50
Thackeray says Steele Was tho first English
writer who spoke Of women with respect, or
thought they were anything but dolls OF 1d,ots
Qulte an admission for the man who Gays him
self they are ali fools Or devils; but bis adni-
ration OF Steele discloses more faith in the sex
than he p1ofesses.- After ali, his women are IS
good as his men; be takes Of all the glitter
from human nature, aDd only the poor, shabby,
everyday article is left.
EpElishmen never draw
STRONG on 1iDE9ESDESr CHARACTERS
for their heroines. Perhaps they haze had no
model to copy fron1.-I hasten to put in before
any one else can say so. But genius should 10
the tims, and discovering the possibilities of hu-
man nature. Women have been advancing for
the last two hundred years, and yet no English
author, accepting Shakespeare, has anticipated
had his one ideal heroine. Coleridge sayB Des-
demona il just the woman every man wishes for
in 4 wlfe,-one whose wisdom Is Of the heart
rather than the head. It is strange men never
have ANYTHING to say about what kind Of man
will make the best husband; they don't consider
think Like Desdemona when size aays 'tBet aa
your fancies teach you. Whate'er you be, an
obedient.'' ;.
Charlotte Bronte Was the first English novel;
ist to draw an independent and spirited heroine,
INTELLECTUAL, BUT woHANLr,--
two traits al Enghsh1nan had never, combined
Il must havo been the creation Of her own brain
or what she knew herself and others capable Of,
more than tho representative English woman
of the tine. Justin Mccarthy, who Is aluaya
just, says: "The stateliest Oriental, the mos:
stoica1 red Indian, could hardly be : moro in
passive creature than an average. well-bred
English Homsn." They seem to have very little
we continually see the same faces
in different dress. Tho young girls may be
prim, or ktteulsh ; but the woman is
always the same.
Ne think OF Mrs Butte Crawley, Mrs. Warden,
and Mrs. Mackenzie Is the representative Brit
ish matron; always on the lookout for good
match for thoir properly -brought-up daughters.
industry Of the American, but take life easy and
grow fat, which causes us to suspect that tho
rooms arc sometimes dusty and the mistress
slippers down at the hael, like poor Mrs.
SIR Walter Scott gives US Di Vernon and Jen-
nio Doans.-both strong, original characters
There appears to be more Independence and
originality about
SCOTCH WOMEN
than We see in the English. Scott found nod
els for Jennie Deaus and Ellen Douglas among
his own Highlands; and Thackeray found Rosaa
and EshelB in London society. :.
Swift Was contemptuou8 and patroniziug to
Homen. Addison used them ss 3 cats paw to
llsplay his wit; he saw only their little folies,
md was blind TO their good qualities. Pope.
1atl a great deal OF maudlin sentiment, but 1s
vas cold and selfish, and, like Ill such men, had
'ery little honest respect for women Some
s1iterhas said, "Show me- what man reads,
md will tell you what kind Of man he ia.'
But better test would be to know.
WHAT he THINKS OF WOMEN.
dickens does not give us any such heroines a.
ieorga Eliot; she paints them as they are, OF
'ught to be-; but hc, like all men, paints them IS
10 likes to have them. Dora and Bella
ssaTns but ea0uss f. "pa 5asassed aseS' ID
somep. s Byrson sneers It virtue and intellect
like Shakespeare rises above the preiudices Of
be age; ho does not, like. .othor writer's contin-
lally give Us our ideal Of womanly perfections.
lis plays each has as distinctive personality
S the male. We know this from the fact that
10 actress, however great her genius has bsen
BILE TO rise above mediocrity in more than t1o
# three characters. Airs. Siddons, who was so
Celebrated IS Lady Macbeth, could not see any,
ny more than the same actor can be equally
rcat in Hamlet and Macbeth. Portia is tbs
rst woman We read OF to appear in
court Of Justice, and she i not
escrlbed al lees womanly for 60 doing. Beatrice
! fully the equal OF Benedick; and Juliet Is ao
8THOyG-M1SDED GIRL;
he brings Romeo to terms when she says, "N
lat thy bent Of love be honorable. thy purpose
aurrluge, send me word tomorrow, by one that
II procure to come to thee, where, and what
inc, thou wilt perform tile rite" Lady Aso~
eth IL tho equal OF her husband intellectually
nth clearer mind to devise md 3 stronger
ill to execute her purposes; ehs il not 50 un-
erved BY superstitious fears. -.
Carlyle does not consider women OF
luch consequence he would like tho
over Of keeping her in, what he
links, her. place. But what does Csr7!e
ke? Bulwer, who is either bombastio
r sentimental, always has tho old-fasn1onea
croine, animated dolls, subject to mans eenet-
sity or villainy. It ia curious fact that man
ther don't give a woman credit for Whist shs
IN do, or else he goes to the other extreme ana
verrates her. The first is the result OF mar
~ mind and prejudice; the other Of genefos-
! and gallantry.
The EDglishma1, is the
MOST UNGAL1+AST OF NES. =
e has not the good nature OF tho German OF
ia politeness Of the french. 4 lady ls nos
eated With tho respect and consideration N
ngland she receives in America There is NJ
.ntiment about true Britons; q pretty taea
,esnt melt them, or lonely one excite then
Becky Sharp Was - e1oa.
!vorito with them after she bad ~, "on
l. ~