Feminist fiction; Historical fiction; Southern States -- Fiction; Women -- Southern States -- Fiction; Women authors -- Fiction
They moved from the four in stone, striking across to Pall Mall.
"There was a halcyon time in England, fifty years or so ago, when, if
you'll believe what men wrote, it was seriously held that no civilized
man would ever again encroach upon a weaker brother's rights! Æons
were at hand of universal education, stained glass, and ascension
lilies. At any rate æons of brotherhood. Under the kindly control of
the great Elder Brother England. And they had some reason--it looked
for an illusory moment that way. I always try to remember that--and
moments like that in every land's history--at moments such as these.
Why doesn't that moment carry on over? There's something deeply,
fundamentally wrong."
He looked along the crowded street. Men were buying papers--that seemed
their chief employment. _Delarey--Kitchener--Report of fight at Hartz
River._
"Not far from a billion dollars expended on this war--and those East
Side streets we went through yesterday--Concentration Camps--and
the Coronation--this reactionary Administration with its Corn Laws
and Coercion Laws and wretched Education Bill, and so on--and the
Coronation talk--and Piccadilly last night after nine--"
"Oh," said Molly sharply. "That's the sting that I feel! It's women and
children who are suffering in those Concentration Camps, I suppose--and
it's women's sons who are lying on the battlefields--and it's women
just as well as men who are paying the taxes--and it's women, too, in
those horrible slums, wretched and hopeless--and bad legislation falls
on women just as hardly as on men--but the other! There we've got the
tragedy mostly to ourselves--and there's no greater tragedy below the
stars!" She dashed a bright drop from her eyes. "I'll never forget that
girl, last night, on the Embankment--thin and painted and that hollow
laugh.... I wish women would wake up!"
"Women and men," said the other. "They're waking, but it's slow, it's
slow, it's slow."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account