Evening star., 1935-09-01
By Mary.Carfer Roberts

DV IIuT Vs1 VI6T NOU6TJS
FACING TWO WAYS: THE STORY
OF MY LIFE. BY Baroness Shid
cue Ishimoto. New York: Farra
& Rinehart
A THOUGH this book is the lif,
~ story OF a woman of tn.
~ Orient, 1t is unlikely that an!
woman, anywhere, will reac
1t with much Of sense Of unfamil.
1arity. 1t comes, indeed, very neal
being a universal story Of one typt
OF feminine experience. But this doe.
not mean that the author lacks indi.
viduality, or that her book is any tht
less an absorbing personal history
For Baroness Shidzue is very much q
person. No one can read her story
without thrilling to her gallantry and
courage.
She was married at the age of IL
to a young man of her family's choos-
ing and, having been brought up ir
the old Japanese school, she accepted
without question the doctrine that
her husband was to be her law from
then on. Her chief duty was to obey
and please him. She was in love with
him, she tells us, and she looked for.
ward to this duty with happiness.
But her husband was modern, and
was not content with doll-like wife
Of the traditional type. He had ideals
OF social advancement for his country
One Of these was for the emancipa-
ton Of women. So he brought his
wife to America and told her that
she must learn to be self-supportins
and independent.
Accordingly. although the idea was
almost a sacrilege to her previous
training, she undertook to do so. She
took secretarial course, learned Eng
lish and whole-heartedly adopted the
new concept of her position She Wis
ualized herself as taking a place be-
side her husband in his work fol-
better social conditions in their coun-
try. 1t was a case of tradition being
broken in order that tradition might
be honored. She was doing a wife's
part, as laid down by the husbands
order
But when they returned to Japan
her husband was a failure in most OF
his undertakings. She, on the con-
trary, was brilliantly successful. Imag-
lining that she was pleasing him. she
organized women's movements of va
rious kinds and even addressed public
meetings-unheard Of among women
of her class. What happened might
have been foreseen. Her lord and
master informed her one day that she
was losing her charm for him, and
that the real ideal Of wifely excel
lence was the old type woman of the
japanese print.
Poor little baronessl She dutifully
gave up her public life and once more
secluded herself in her home. Her
associates protested but, she says, Il
was determined to regain domestic
happiness. I never thought of sac
rificing my husbands career for mine.
Gladly I resolved to sacrifice mine,
for his"
But it did not work out. He con-
tinued to fall short of success and to
lose money. At last. she says, II re-
allied that :. I must face the future
with less of compromise I must
earn living for us three" (hersef and
her two sons).
So the obedient and worshipful wife
took up the responsibility. She came
to America to lecture. Her object
was to earn money for her children's
education, but the freedom of Ameri-
can women, as contrasted with wom-
ems position in Japan, impressed her
unforgettably. She used some Of her
money, she tells us, to buy American
furniture, so that on her return she
would have lighter household work,
and she bought silver watches, such
as the Scouts wear" for each Of her
sons, to interest them in American
boys.
Baroness Ishimoto Is a good writer.
She gives us highly informative chap
ters on social conditions in Japan,
delineating without passion the his
torical factors which have led to the
enslavement Of women, and making
very clear the beauty of the life which
the women have created, even with
their limitations. One feels that, If
her husband had not decreed other
wise, she would have lived as her
ancestors did quite happily. But one
also feels the strength and genius
that are In her. It is not likely that
she will turn back again. Working
through a mans weakness, fate has
given women another champion. Her
work will surely be remembered,
GEORGE THE FOURTH. BY Roger
Fulford. New York: G. r. Put
mans Sons.
THE character of his royal high
ness, the prince regent, and his
majesty, George w, comes in for a
much-needed polishing in this ex-
cellently written biography. And,
contrarily, good Queen Caroline"
of whom history has made much as a
martyr, comes in for a drubbing. In
other words, Mr.. Fulford has pretty
much reversed traditional estimates
of the royal couple whose disagree
ments at one time almost divided
England.
1S BAO0L1u 4O1 ACNCAchA NJ 44OV
newly discovered historical material,
but new Interpretation. Mr.. Fulford
does not deny that the royal George
was personally full of faults and weak
nesses. But, he says, he was fit to
be q King, as is witnessed by the
fact that his kingdom flourished in
his reign. Queen Caroline, on the
other hand, he says, was not fit to
be Queen, either by education or nat
ural endowments. These lacks, to
his mind, justified her spouse's treat
ment of her. whether she were in
nocent or guilty Of the actual charges
whiah were preferred against her.
It is a doctrine that is a little hard
to swallow, unless one is to accept
the idea that Kings and Queens are
above the principles which govern
the lives Of the lesser, and that. in
their cases, expediency Is the only law.
But Mr.. Fulford makes interesting,