The book is rich in passages marked by feeling and good suggestions;
but, taken in the whole, the impression it leaves is this:
Woman is, and _shall remain_, inferior to Man and subject to his
will, and, in endeavoring to aid her, we must anxiously avoid anything
that can be misconstrued into expression of the contrary opinion, else
the men will be alarmed, and combine to defeat our efforts.
The present is a good time for these efforts, for men are less
occupied about women than formerly. Let us, then, seize upon the
occasion, and do what we can to make our lot tolerable. But we must
sedulously avoid encroaching on the territory of Man. If we study
natural history, our observations may be made useful, by some male
naturalist; if we draw well, we may make our services acceptable to
the artists. But our names must not be known; and, to bring these
labors to any result, we must take some man for our head, and be his
hands.
The lot of Woman is sad. She is constituted to expect and need a
happiness that cannot exist on earth. She must stifle such aspirations
within her secret heart, and fit herself, as well as she can, for a
life of resignations and consolations.
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