The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1892-03-27
OUR LITERARY BUDGET.
HEN AND WOMEN IN LrrRRhrURE.
woman's Heroine and Mans Hero ara Ant
TO Mate Above Their Conditions
Feminine IL the Reward.

When Esop's lion limited to Praxiteles that
If the leonine mind had been given to the
carving as well as TO the eating of the human
form divine, the canons Of art might have
been somewhat modified, he only expressed n
sentiment not restricted to the tribe OF Felis
Leo. There runs through the whole range Of
folk lore. myths and popular stories the same
temper OF retort. The man is ever ready TO
say TO the woman, you're another as he
feels the sting of her setting forth of his de-
hnqdencies. The woman is none the less
ready 10 tell the story in her way, to the
seeming disadvantage Of the male version.
Modern literature, with its "al-'round"
learniDgs, is inclined TO take both sides Of the
same situation. This Ia very noteworthy in
Shakespeare. Lady Macbeth is the tempter
aud upholdero of her husband, while Gertrude's
sin Is the work OF the stronger will OF the
usnrpiDg king. In the one case 1t IS the man,
in the other the woman, who drifts power
lessly into evil. Bob ROsalind and Viola put
on male attire TO win their lovers, but they
match, one below, the other above, her degree.
Orlando, the younger son OF a country gen.
teman, and OrsinO, the duke regnant Of
lllyrii 4, stand at quite opposite ends Of the
social scale. so, again, while Desdem0na and
lmOgen are equally victims Of the jealousy
same treachery, Othe,lo suffers, while Leo
natus Posthumus is delivered from the con-
sequences OF his error. TennysOn is inclined
to show THIS disposition to try both sides OF
the same issue. Perhaps it is fairer TO say
That he reOpeD5 the old case for second
hearing. En0ch Arden is the set of to Pene-
lope, and King Arthur's forgiveness OF Guine-
we're is the reversal of the story of OtbellO.
Butin spi OF the effort OF modern noyelists
10 find situations outside Of established lines,
there is certain tendency which betrays the
influence OF sex. The wOman's heroine and
the mans nero are apt 10 mate above their
conditions. Thus Of Scott5 heroes, the greater
part aspire. But on the other hand, Miss
Austen's herones approach life from the side
of good matchmaking. Fannie Price, Annie
Eliot, Catherine Morland, the Bennett girls
Jane and Elizabeth-Jane Fairfax and the
Eastwood sisters, all wed above their posi-
UOn. They are, OF course, gentlewOmen. put
without expectations, and are wOOed and won
for their own sakes. Emma as an heiress is
the single exception. 80 IL Is with Miss
Brontes heroines. Jane Eyre and Lucy
snOwe are goyernesses. Caroline llelstOHe IL
a pOrtiOnless dependent. Shirley keeldar is
indeed an heiress, but she is not the leading
character, though she gives ner name TO the
novel.
Perhaps the reason is not far 10 seek. The
male mind dwels on the thought shat bis
hero should win by doing. The lady Of mascu-
line regard is ex OfiiciO goddess, princess,
prize TO be fought for. Tue thought OF the
feminine mind is TO picture its ideal as being
worth the fighting. she must show herself a
heroine as well as be entitled one. The mas
culine thought Is 10 win; the feminine is TO
reward. When this was managed in the
simple old fashion of knight-erTantry, by
sheer lighting on the one side and interested
lOOking-On on the other, matters adjusted
themselves with ease. But the complications
OF modern civilization have brought in all
manner Of modifying considerations, and the
society novel Of today greatly turns upon me
adjustment of these. 1t deals with the ques-
tiOns of mutual surrender and this ever
! huctuating balance makes the subject OF the
fiction of the present. Family opposition, re-
ligious incOmpatibilitles, conflicts oftempera-
mental these have to be considered between
Caius and Gaia, and the point of dispute is
what substantial justice to the rights OF each
| requires Of each. Authors Of either sex viii
unconsciously take their own side, and hence
it is very rare that sex in authorship does not
! betray itself No man has as yet succeeded
| i'm passing for n woman, and no woman
has remained undetected under male
pseudOnym. 1t is true that, in case OF felici-
| ious authorship, the writer is most likely to
| disclose the secret and claim the renovn, but
il is not probable that ii would remain un-
| suspected. 1t is not that male or female
author could not, by abnormal cleyerness,
accomplish the task, but that neither would
do IL. When II comes 10 the point, both de-
sire 20 do that which belongs 10 their own
province; and the greater the genius, the more
il is constrained by its own special limita-
transatlantic Monthly.