[Transcriber’s Notes: This e-text is a translation of August Bebel’s “Die Frau und der Sozialismus”. Table column headings that have been supplied by the transcriber are enclosed in [square brackets]. Bold text is denoted by ~tilde~, italic text by _underscores_, and gesperrt (spaced-out text) by #pound signs#.] WOMAN AND SOCIALISM BY AUGUST BEBEL Jubilee [Decor: 50th] Edition AUTHORIZED TRANSLATION BY META L. STERN (HEBE) SOCIALIST LITERATURE CO. 15 Spruce Street, New York 1910 Copyright, 1910 by the SOCIALIST LITERATURE COMPANY New York [Printer’s Logo] The Co-Operative Press, 15 Spruce St., New York CONTENTS Page Introduction 3 WOMAN IN THE PAST. Chapter I.--_The Position of Woman in Primeval Society_ 9 1. Chief Epochs of Primeval History 9 2. Family Forms 14 3. The Matriarchate 20 Chapter II.--_Conflict between Matriarchate and Patriarchate_ 28 1. Rise of the Patriarchate 28 2. Traces of the Matriarchate in Greek Myths and Dramas 34 3. Legitimate Wives and Courtesans in Athens 37 4. Remnants of the Matriarchate in the Customs of Various Nations 44 5. Rise of the State--Dissolution of the Gens in Rome 50 Chapter III.--_Christianity_ 56 Chapter IV.--_Woman in the Mediaeval Age_ 63 1. The Position of Women among the Germans 63 2. Feudalism and the Right of the First Night 66 3. The Rise of Cities--Monastic Affairs--Prostitution 69 4. Knighthood and the Veneration of Women 75 Chapter V.--_The Reformation_ 78 1. Luther 78 2. Results of the Reformation--The Thirty Years’ War 83 Chapter VI.--_The Eighteenth Century_ 88 1. Court Life in Germany 88 2. Commercialism and the New Marriage Laws 90 3. The French Revolution and the Rise of Industry 93 WOMAN AT THE PRESENT DAY. Chapter VII.--_Woman as a Sex Being_ 96 1. The Sexual Impulse 96 2. Celibacy and the Frequency of Suicide 100