Not all hysteria, either in men or women, is united with such a
character as this woman's. Sufficient stress and strain may bring about
hysterical symptoms in a relatively normal person and short hysterical
reactions are common in the normal woman. The height of cynicism may be
found in the discovery that war causes hysteria in some men in much the
same way that matrimony causes hysteria in some women. A humorous review
of a paper on the domestic neuroses was entitled "Kitchen Shell Shock."
But severe hysteria, when it arises in the housewife, springs mainly
from her disposition and not from the kitchen.
Case X. The unfaithful husband.
Monogamous marriage is based upon the assumption that loyalty to a
single male is moral and possible. It is probable that in no age has
this agreement been loyally carried out by the husbands; it is probable
that in our own time the single standard of morals has first been
strongly emphasized. With the rise of women into equality one of the
important demands they have made is that men remain as loyal as
themselves. Therefore the reaction to unchastity or unfaithfulness on
the part of the man is apt to be more severe than in the past, on the
theory that where more is demanded failure in performance is felt the
keener.
The housewife, Mrs. F.C., aged thirty-five, is a prepossessing woman,
the mother of two children, and has been married for nine years. Her
health has always been fairly good, though in the last four years she
has been somewhat irritable. She attributed this to struggle to make
both ends meet, her husband being a workman with wages just over the
border line of sufficiency. They quarreled "no more than other couples
do", were as much in love "as other couples are", to use her phrases.
She was above her class in education, read what are usually called
advanced books, was "strong for suffrage", etc. However she was a good
housekeeper, devoted to her children and faithful to her husband. Their
sexual relations were normal and up till six months before I saw her she
thought herself a well-mated, rather fortunate woman.
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