The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1886-01-29
WOMAN
"A Plea for the Fiu"tuating Feinnie-IIe,
Z, Changing Moods, WhimS ard IMPULSES.

WOMAN GOSSIP.
A Plea for the Eluctuating Feinnle-IIe
Changing Moods, Whims ard Impulses.
Modern fiction seems To like to dwell
and more upon the uncertain. un
practicable. illogical action of th,
female mind, as if il were Il fault or
%reproach. There is usually Il touch o
satire in the kindly writer when he ap
pears 10 dwell admirinsly upon th,
changing moods. whims. impulses. of /;
lovely roman By pointing these on
and dwelling upon them he GETS Il repu
tation of understanding woman. o
having surprised her secret. He some,
times has the air of expecting 10 inn
prove her. or ~ least To cianoe her. b,
holding up 10 view her inconsequent
iluctuating conduct. He seems To h,
searching. furthermore. Tor some law 81
her being that will apply To- all women,
so that when he has studied n he will
know all. And ALWAYS. in one way on
another, il is impressed upon the public
mind that this non-uniformitV of action
according to some plain law is some
how II rcproach la The seN. All litera-
'uiN, III iLNl. - llhi w iElS llOlIbn lll'tt
what with inSuiirrahir insoicncc is called
the Inconsistency q! woman i Il most nm.
fortunate element IN human life. that
because You can not predict from what
Il woman did Yesterday what She will ho
tomorrow. or because no two ONE
can be- expected 10 act alike under SINH
lar circumstances. therefore our social
life is all Il mwldlc. Now il were easy
10 prove that It CHIEF charm of woman is
IN her infinite variety and unexpected
ness. but the ~FlUctuating Female needs
10 rest her defense upon no such super
fetal argument. This. her iluctuating
quality. il the necessary basis of society
and of polite letters. Probably it j. the
only thing that will save us from the
casI-iron uniformity of the results of
social science.
Take the novel. The interest OF the
novel-thc real story. not the social
science tract is in loyc-making. And
the interest in the lovc-makin~ in the
novel lies in the uncertainty and in
dividualitN of the female mind: that is
la say. every ease is positively =; new
one. Not only is it impossible To lav
down a rule of action for this mind. a
rule evolved from the study of innumer-
able eases in fiction and in real life. but
II Is ncNt To impossible To predict what
will be lis action from Il study of lis own
tendency. Hence the incXhauStible in
terest of the comedy or tragedy. rs il
may be. and the infinite resources of the
student of lovc-making and the adjust
ment of the relation of MAJ TO woman
which - th, .r,..n. l,zin..- e 1;f. III
interest in the novel. if il is a story of
love, Is i~neNhauStiblc not only because
every woman i different from every
other, but because every real m
has infinite variety of impulse and action
in herself. Ii the lover in the novel
were sure to find his beloved every day
just the same. the public would not care
To read about more than one interview.
Fiction would perish of monotony. If
the female mind had Il law of uniformi-
~, and The novelist were to discover il.
he would simply Kill the goose that laws
the golden eggs of literature. He would
dissipate all the mystery and charm of
his art. But there is no danger. The
novel in this j. = reflection of real life.
The great interest of the world lies in
the uncertainty attending lOve-making.
and in the variety. the incalcnlable
mood and action. Of woman in all cir
cumstanccS. Take IN appeal To expert
cncc. Ii is true that there are women
who are comparatively >tolid. reduced
to rule and uniformity. But they are
embarrassing. Who is it that forever
eNcites. charms. attracts. and makes life
lively and varied and worth living? 1t
is the ~Fluctuating Female. the oma
who does and says the unexpected.
who-to make the case cXtrcme-has
tears one nnnut and smiles The next.
who can pass easily from gay tn grave.
and keep expectation ON tiitoc for her
delightful variations. Lite would be in
tolcrably stupid il she were otherwise.
Doubtless -hc somehow obey, Il law
of her benz. Il higher law that can not
be measured and reduced To ruiz. And
it is thi, quality q iluctuation that is the
hope and -;f'ty Of society. We have II
conccii in these days that if we can get
together a Sufficient number of facts on
any subject. We can cN0'v" = certain
general rule. We ho'm hy-aud-br to
make Il science at political economy ont
of our observations. We do. in fact,
Il -
SCI up Il 'h~a'iiih'fi "' 'nHH 80, ''>'I
upon iac'S' "'H "r| H"rPr'N'' '''a' u
4Dr| nor WORE, I"tI',!!n% ma. we nave
lri, our Oh 'h' c''e"'a'i"'' sun :i~''t"hucI-
to'es ~ IMAGINATION n'r'' ~ H'hp"'hy'
anu o'h'r ri">'N' i''ci'''' an" i'"''i on
nl'ioii'' NO" WOMAN WIN ~, "i.lnc-
~ ",''rSo N'p''n'E".'H !'" o3,"p''lce
!" inc ntS''i 10" o. NM N"'ci we
c"n''i'c"it can i'"i''''' ,,'h'' i"',"-
''"'e'S III 'h' WV 90 = ''s','ph S'c'"'p1
~: OF SEiciic' 81 IT, ~ ""i'" We are "'t
cNPec.c" l" "''"H'' rl''> "'" l,''' VI
innchi"'ih NOV NJ N'h r""N-''"' l"t-
c!Siol: man 80 = no, h'"" WIN i
100 iol NM " ':,.''' > W. r.
iariis anu ".'''"''h'l' '"' i' WORKS
AVA! III ms i't!''",a J." "'H''"'e ,ii'i.i'
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'!'' Hoih IL" 'N,''"' VIA, any
mo-; c,usb,d ont IF her. ne y,n IN ind
,Ln, ,La w,o,lI L.ui in., al i. 81, AMI
Ill ChannanLL.g e., ~ Ln,.
If ,ha wind III mn, bIon, ,uJ shit, and
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can. tto ,mosiL:.ro unr,J .taann,a
and iifa y, tLn ,,i,Ln So, ;,s,rnnnr,'
IL !, ,nF',,I,. IN L,amntLa.