Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1893-01-14
WOMEN NO LONGER FAINT.

That is, Not to the Extent to which They
III Sc In the Eighteenth Century.
A writer I'm the New York Critic calls
attention to the way in which Fielding's
Amelia" SURPRISES all other heroines
of fiction in her power OF swooning at
the smallest--as well ms the largest
provocation. She is always SwoOning
and fainting TO b. sure. her trials are
many and great She faintS or swoons
when her lover proposes; she faints
when her mother refuses her consent,
she faints when the captain goes TO the
wars: she faints when she visits him in
the sponging house. Now, in ali the
novels of the last century, and in
great many novels of this the women
go Off in faint ut every moment of
emotion and surprise. We see Ms
Barden fainting in Mrs. Picllwick's
arms for instance. OF course it was
at one time supposed to be the correct
thing to show signs of fainness at every
surprise, and this long after the time of
Amelia Mrs. Neneering faints on hear
ing that her husband has become an
NJ. T. But was it always a sham? Did
the sweet and tender Amelia counter
felt these swoons? Did other ladies be-
lieve like the tender Amelia?
My theory, says Walter Besant In the
St Louis Post-Dispatch, based upon
large study Of eighteenth century nov
els and letters and biographies, is that,
down to quite recent times, men and
women alike were much more ungov'
erned than they are now. We find GER
ain evidence that all the emotions
love, rage jealousy, despair, hatred, re-
venge-were manifested 100 years ago
far more violently than we can at pres
ent understand. l do not believe that
Amelia slammed and | do believe that
all ladies behaved in her time in much
the same way. Why then, If l am
right, are we so much more self-re-
strained than we We're. Why do we
bear the blows and accept the favors
Of fortune with so much more stoicism?
There are many reasons. FIRST of all,
we feel things less: Fortunes frowns
do not In general way mean such
dreadful things as they did; there is a
much thicker shield between us and the
depths; there is no debtors prison, for
instance; there is n vast amount of
accumulated wealth; family in its
third generation of success is guarded
by these accumulations and by ties of
blood against MI kinds Of surprises a
very great number Of families never
dread poverty at all. This makes
great difference. The annals of the last
century are full of the most fnghtful
and the most sudden revers9s.
Again, people have far less power
than they had. Men used to kick their
Wallets, ladies used TO beat their maids.
When you could do that, there was
some sense in falling into a rage royal.
But now one can not enjoy that luxury.
Again, we now drink much less wine
and beer and strong waters than we did.
Ladies when they took these things, as
they used TO take them, regularly and
freely, We're much more emotional than
in these days when they take nothing,
And we take more exercise, and we
have made the exhibition of emotion
ridiculous-men used to weep copiously
and loudly on occasions when they
would now be ashamed so much as to
shuttle; we no longer iight--leSs than
100 years ago men We're always quar-
reling in public places, and fighting with
fists and chairs and whatever else came
handy.
To all these things add the extended
use of that salutary herb, tobacco-w with
perhaps-I do not know-some soften
ing of manners some improvement In
the minor morals, and we may under
stand a little how and why we have
learned TO control our tempers and TO
refrain-the men from RACES and the
women from fainting.