The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1910-01-19
MARRIAGE IN PORTUGAL.
COurtship Picturesque, but Life of
Married Women Very Narrow.

Married women Very Narrow.
Marriage, as in the lives Of many, is
certainly the most important event in
that Of the Portuguese woman, and. what
is more. in the early days of courtship it
is attended with some romance, for there
is less of business and more Of romance
in the ways Of the Portuguese lover This
is how the Portuguese cavalier conducts
his affairs de occur: II he sees "A pretty
girl In the street with whom he would
like 10 become acquainted, he follows
her He follows her in the face of all
difficultes-Chaperons and duennas-right
10 her very door, and he notes the ad-
dress, says a writer in the London Daily
Mail
Next day he comes again, and if the
young lady approves of him she will
most certainly be on the lookout. but
sometimes hard fate, an angry guardian.
or a stern parent prevents her, and then
The gallant youth is kept waiting
SO, If during a ramble through Por-
tugal YOU should notice a young man
lettering al the corner Of the street or
gazing intently at a house. you must not
imagine that he is meditating a bur
glary or anything 50 desperate, but you
know that he is merely a harmless and
amorous youth gazing ar the windows Of
his lady love.
BE sure if there is a way she will not
keep him waiting long. for the POrtu-
guese girl is a past master in the art Of
intrigue.
Soon she leans over the balcony and
smiles at him. and the happy youth. thus
encouraged, ties a note. in which he de-
clares his Undying passion, TO the cord
which the fair lady has dropped from
the balcony. The next day the young
man. buOyed with hope. comes again,
but This time he is holder, for he rings
at the door.
If the inquiries which the ladys par
ents will doubtless have made prove
satisfactory, he is admitted TO make the
Acquaintance Of the young lady and her
family. and then should he please and
the ladys father be prepared TO give the
necessary dot. the wedding bells will end
this little romance
Once married, the death knell of TO
nance and all else is often sounded for
the Portuguese bride. Married often
when yet a child. she has the cares OF
wifehood and motherhood thrust upon
her.
For. unlike her sisters of France. mar
rage does not spell her emancipation.
her freedom from the chaperon. The
bride of to-day has no more freedom
than the maiden of yesterday. Without
husband or Chaperou, she may not walk
abroad y jealous husband will often
keep her as closely guarded as though
she had taken the VEIL
The lives, therefore, of the Portuguese
women are often. az barren and devoid
Of interest as those Of the women in
the far East. Certainly among the rising
/ generation there is a growing unrest. a
yearning for culture. q vague idea that
there is a world somewhere beyond Por-
tugal but the lives OF many are often
as hedged in as their own back gardens.
In fact, to many their house and fam
iIy, their kinraT, or orange grove, rep
resent their whole world-the only world
they know. It is no unusual thing to
find a Portuguese woman who has been
willingly incarcerated for several years.
One lady of my acquaintance told me she
had not been beyond the garden for
four years.
And you are not bored?" I exclaimed,
in astonishmcnt. "You do not want to
go out?"
IF l should go out" she replied IN her
pretty broken English, Il rest not till 1
am returned; for who knows what may
happen in my absence?
Go out" she continued with shrug of
her plump shoulders for what for should
1 go out? Here I have my children. my
husband, my home; what more can /
want?'
What, indeed?
To the onlooker the life Of the average
Portuguese woman is dull, deadly dull
She cannot throw herself into housekeep-
ing as a German would, because the
Portuguese menage is such a very simple
affair it could not possibly occupy much
time OF thought. Moreover. it is not in
her nature to become a really good haus-
/ frau.
Books are often sealed for her. Less
/ than an onlooker at life, the worlds hap
| penings can hardly be supposed TO absorb
her interest. OF society, save for the Wis
its OF few relatives. she has none.
There are two things which save her life
| from deadly monotony-her religion and
the balcony. In almost every house in