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Commenter Mina was kind enough to leave this Shakespearean Monologue from The Taming of the Shrew in my last post. It is a monologue said by Katharina in Act V, Scene II. I never had a doubt that Great Books for Men had it right all along.
Fie, fie! unknit that threatening unkind brow,
And dart not scornful glances from those eyes
To wound thy lord, thy king, thy governor.
It blots thy beauty as frosts do bite the meads,
Confounds thy fame as whirlwinds shake fair buds,
And in no sense is meet or amiable.
A woman mov’d is like a fountain troubled-
Muddy, ill-seeming, thick, bereft of beauty;
And while it is so, none so dry or thirsty
Will deign to sip or touch one drop of it.
Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper,
Thy head, thy sovereign; one that cares for thee,
And for thy maintenance commits his body
To painful labour both by sea and land,
To watch the night in storms, the day in cold,
Whilst thou liest warm at home, secure and safe;
And craves no other tribute at thy hands
But love, fair looks, and true obedience-
Too little payment for so great a debt.
Such duty as the subject owes the prince,
Even such a woman oweth to her husband;
And when she is froward, peevish, sullen, sour,
And not obedient to his honest will,
What is she but a foul contending rebel
And graceless traitor to her loving lord?
I am asham’d that women are so simple
To offer war where they should kneel for peace;
Or seek for rule, supremacy, and sway,
When they are bound to serve, love, and obey.
Why are our bodies soft and weak and smooth,
Unapt to toil and trouble in the world,
But that our soft conditions and our hearts
Should well agree with our external parts?
Come, come, you forward and unable worms!
My mind hath been as big as one of yours,
My heart as great, my reason haply more,
To bandy word for word and frown for frown;
But now I see our lances are but straws,
Our strength as weak, our weakness past compare,
That seeming to be most which we indeed least are.
Then vail your stomachs, for it is no boot,
And place your hands below your husband’s foot;
In token of which duty, if he please,
My hand is ready, may it do him ease.
Can you imagine if they put stuff like this in movies today? It would make life so much easier to figure out. I took all three girls to the dentist yesterday and he’s telling me how they will probably need braces and I am so thankful that my husband takes care of us when we need it, no worries necessary from me.
It seems to me the manosphere is turning more and more towards classical reading and I think that will bring it to the next level. It`s all there and written as well as it would ever be is my guess. I also found it interesting that Sunshine Mary had found an old manual about dating for men from the 1920s giving good alpha/beta advice. My suspicion is that there are superb insights in the christian tradition about men, women and relationships and combining that with higher purpose. My guess is that there is a lot of great terms to describe the key psychological principles but that these are mostly just found in old texts and very little in those from the last 50 years.
You’re quite right, Sherlock. I’m seeing this trend as well, and only good things can come of it. I really hope it continues. All the term-coining we do here in the manosphere is all very well and good for initial understanding, but to move deeply into a subject you have to be able to let go of that and approach the matter from all angles, not only from within your one little defined box.
Anyway, my useless arts degrees in medieval studies exposed me to a lot of men’s descriptions (but as I then incorrectly thought, valuations) of women’s nature. I always wondered how such intelligent, meticulously observant people could have been so blinded by cultural prejudice. Nope, they were actually very much right. I should see if I can dig some stuff up.
The single piece of writing most responsible for opening my eyes though – this pre-manosphere – is Chesterton’s What’s Wrong With the World. I’m sure you can read it for free on Project Gutenberg. It’s priceless. The section on women at least should be a must-read in the sphere.
^ Someone seems to like French drama, too
I absolutely need to start reading Chesterton. I will add that book to my reading list as well.
Phedre,
May I ask, when you started your degree, what were you hoping to do with it when you graduated? What was your thought process?
When I started my undergrad I thought I wanted to become a prof. The academic life was all I wanted. Halfway through first year I met my (now) fiance, and very soon realised that a- school was nothing like what I thought it would be (i.e. Marxist and boring) and b- my relationship was permanent and I almost certainly wouldn’t have to work.
The second degree was partly to appease my parents, who thought becoming a prof was a most noble idea and couldn’t understand why I wouldn’t want to do that anymore. I also by that point didn’t know how to not be a student. I told myself that *maybe* graduate school would be different, and I would actually like it. At this point I was doing it purely for personal enjoyment (though there turned out to be little of that because the students and profs were still intellectually incurious). Moreover, if I wasn’t a student I would only be able to call myself a housewife, which in a big, ultra-left city is actually less acceptable than saying you’re doing ‘nothing’ (a terrible habit I still haven’t fully broken).
Anyway, it wasn’t a total waste because in the end I came out knowing exactly how I don’t like to learn, and then went out and started learning the way that works for me. I also befriended a girl in the program with whom I ended up spending 2 years translating medieval Latin for fun, and she also turned me onto Chesterton and Lewis, and helped me understand the true nature of belief in God.
So the end result has been great, but my future children are certainly not going though the school system and university will be a very carefully deliberated choice.
Phedre,
Translating medieval Latin! I have not words. Amazing. My kids are learning Latin now. Every so often they will hold mini conversations. It’s something to witness.
Regarding going to university. I’m with you. I went, worked for five years and will be pleased as punch never working again. Maritus is thrilled that I don’t wish to as well. We intend to make college a very deliberate choice for our kids as well.
Regarding the fitness test, fantastic comment. I sense a later post idea coming on . . . . Thank you!
Glad to hear your kids are learning Latin. I avoided it for many years because it seemed pretentious (what a dumb reason to avoid things!), but it really has been valuable and enjoyable on so many levels.
Age-permitting, I definitely recommend looking at some medieval Latin stuff for reading/translation material. Classicists get their panties in a bunch over it, but it really provides much more stylistic variety as well as variety of content. Some of the most beautiful Christian writings become accessible in their full, nuanced depth. And it spans so many time periods and cultures (bound as ‘Christendom’, yet distinct in many ways) that one is learning history in the most authentic way, at the same time as enjoying beautiful writing and working out the brain.
Are you using Wheelock, and if so, how are you finding it?