The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1917-08-30
OF INTEREST To WOMEN
No Place Found
for Jealousy if
L0ue Is Supreme
It May Be Proof Of Passion
But It Is Denial Of
Affection.
BY MARGUERITE MooERs
MARSHALL.


MARSHALL.
Before II. q. Wells began writing
about The Soul of a Bishop" and
other things immortal he directed the
barraec fire Of a series of brilliant, i'm
FASHIONED novels upon that supreme
mortal liaistake-jesslousy.
All women should be the allies of Mr..
Wells in his battle with the belief that
jealousy is an integral and even ad-
mirable part of love, for many women
suffer and some sin because OF just
that belief.
The unwritten reason for nine di-
vorces out of ten is jealousy. It Is
the core of the crime of passion that
now and again makes a home a. mis-
shapen Belgian ruin. And jealousy, nne
boiling lava, undernes many a smooth
crust Of apparently successful mar
rage.
Jealousy Male Trait.
In this country, at least, jealousy is
primarily a wol1fan's trait. The
American male has a certain large
faith in the loyalty of the rnler of
his heart, a certain large contempt
for tricking and trapping her. Pos
sibly this is because his magma
tion halts at the idea of a man more
fascinating than himself. Neverthe-
less even when the existence Of such
a person Is proved to him, he shows
himself a good loser.
In the game of love it is the woman
who Is wretchedly unable to endure
defeat. Then why should she antici-
pate and accelerate it?
The Jealous woman almost invaria,-
bly, ends by creating cause for her
jealousy. I've woman who spies on
her husband, who reads his letters.
who calls at his office unexpectedly.
who sets any one of the thousand
transparent snares for deceivers--
what is she but q continually en-
phasized suggestion Of the faithless-
ness she SUSPECTS? If I've got the
name l may az well have the game" is
the husbands most natural, if deplor-
able, reaction.
even in my n, orbidly retrospective
moments" a wise young woman con-
fided to me. II Aever let myself
dream that the man / love is In love
with some other wohla l suppose
I'm frightfully conceite>d but it just
never slips from my Iorizon that
some one else can be mare to Jack
than I. Our togethernesse Is indie
scribably vital and complete, IN body,
mind and heart trust Jack, OF
course. but also trust myself my own
allure. / have neither the cowardico nor
the humility to be Jealous -
And If he Enthusiastically stoprsad
caring?' asked curiously.
I'D be so busy despising myself as
an incompetent failure that I'd have
no time to be jealous" she flashed.
Jealousy hasn't a pragmatic leg to
stand on. AS formaldehyde for a mans
love 1t is absolutely useless. The Wotn--
an who tortures herself with it SIM
ply stains the shining garments of her
own devotion.
For, in the first place she dis
trusts the man she loves. If love means
anything at all it means the overthrow
of the defenses of pride. reserve, and
smiling cynicsm with which one must
face most human beings if one is to
escape hurt. The jealous woman who
trusts her husband as far as she can
SEES him. gives him the quality if not
the quantity of affection she bestows
on any casual friend.
Again. the woman dominated by
jealousy commits hari-k kari on what
ever sense of humor she may chance
to possess. She is like any spy, whose
sin consists In being found out. She
will lie, cheat or eavesdrop without
conjunction. for jealousy Is nothing If
not self ustificatory.
Disobeys Ultimate Law.
To distrustfulness and dishonor she
adds disobedience of the ultimate
law OF love. She thinks first. last and
all the time of self. Yet ideal passion
instinctively must sacrifice it's own
satisfaction to the happiness of the
loved object. Not infrequently q WOMB
an feels this passion for her child.
Why not for her lover? The answer is
that most of US are unskillful anna
tours in the supremacy difficult art of
loving.
Do you remember Frank Stockton's
fictional impasse, "The Lady or the
Tiger" Cleverly he left unsolved the
fate of the hero-lover of the Princess,
whom she might send either to the
arms of a beautiful woman or to a
tigers jaws. But every woman who
really has loved knows the answer. If
the Princess cared for him whose life
depended on her she gave him that life
to enjoy with her rival. Was she jeal
ous--tlterefore Nnloving--she yielded
the man of her within to nothing but
death.
If l were a man / should prefer a
death struggle with a tiger to a life
time with a jealous princess. Jealousy
may be a proof of passion, but it is a
denial of love.