The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1911-04-11
WOMAN At FORTY
NEEDS LOVE MOST
Nine. Michaelis' Confessions
In Book Portray Middle
Aged Woman.

Berlin, April 1.-THE women of
Germany are much agitated by book
entitled THE Critical Age" The au-
thcr Is Nine. Karin Michaelis, "A wo-
man more than fifty, who is herself
most happily married. She is Danish
by birth, but her husband Is German,
and she has spent the greater part OF
her life In Germany and writes her
book In German.
In this book. Of which hundreds of
thousands OF copies have been sold,
the author deals With the tragedy of
the woman who has passed her for
tie,h year. II Is not strictly speaking
u novel. but the confessions of a mid
die aged woman who endeavOrs to
tell the whole truth about herself and
what she conceives 10 be the truth
about women. Here are some of the
characteristic passages of these
strange confessions.
NO man has any idea of the inner
workings Of "A woman's heart. Men
pride themselves on understanding
women and are always befooled in
this respect The whole truth is new
or spoken between man and wo-
man. but II Is not necessary on this
account to condemn women; they are
never quite sincere toward men, be-
cause they are never quite sincere to-
ward themselves Men can be honor
able In dealing with themselves as In
dealing with others, but women do
not possess this capacity.
than her own life: she can sacrifice
her time, her health and her life for
him, but IL she Is real woman she
can never take him entirely into her
confidence. She can never take him
into her confidence because she dare
not. A man. on the contrary, even II
only for u short time. can love without
reserve. In this condition he allows
himself to be unlocked like "A chest OF
drawers with many dark recesses.
Then he delivers himself and his past
to the woman he loves. but n woman
never gives more of her confidence
than reason permits. She will not con-
fes TO man some of her secret
thoughts which she would willingly
and without reserve. communicate to
other women.
Every women plays comedy at all
times of her life with smiles and with
tears. Smiling Is language which
none but women understands; woman
smiles at "a great crisis. and with a
smile she reflects the greatest virtues.
Men can not smile at all: they are not
deceitful enough to smile. And with
the smile. so II Is with tears. Tears
are n gift from nature TO women. and
most women use them to excite them
selves when the desire to create a
scene"
Karin Michaelis devotes large por-
ton of her book to portraying the ter
rible grief of woman, who. after
passing the age of forty. still desires
TO be loved and still has longings for
all those delicate attentions which
men pay to youthful women and which
are not rendered TO her because her
external appearance causes her to be
classified among the middle-aged
This. according to the author. is the
critical age for u woman. when she
passes through veritable inferno oil
mental suffering. A woman loses the
outside signs of youth. but her heart
does not grow old: on the contrary
her desire for love and devotion in
crcases with augmenting years. Men
believe that woman grows old, but
this is entirely wrong. because it is
only the exterior of woman which
grows old, leaving her inner life un
touched and unchanged by years.
All these philosophical disQuisitions
on the critical age Of woman are based
on the life story of the heroine of the
book. who after being married at
twenty-five years obtains a divorce
from her husband just at time when
she herself is entering the critical
age. She desires to be alone. to with
draw far from the busy world and
enjoy complete repose.
Her real reason for leaving her hus
band was that she loved another. bu,
she deceived herself into the belief
that she desired repose. Her inten
ton was that the other man should
learn nothing of her feelings TOWARD
him. Suddenly she is overcome by al
uutouVuS'ooie uSSiie " see tue maj
she loves. She writes to him that she
loves him. and awaits his arrival with
eager anticipations. He comes. ant
with him comes disallusion. for hi
loves her no longer. He had loved hel
but his love has evaporated
IN her despair. the heroine appeal.
to her husband to take her back. Here
again, he experiences a deem blow II
her self-esteem, for husband is abou
10 marry n much younger woman
Then the heroine leaves her reposefu
home and rushes hastily through the