Kreutzer sonata

[Rever]

An excerpt
“You know,” he began again, packing the tea and sugar away in his bag,
“the domination of women from which the world suff ers, all stems from this.”
“What domination of women?” I asked. “Th e truth is that advantages in
rights are all on the side of men.”
“Yes, yes, that’s just it,” he interrupted me. “Th at’s just what I want to tell
you: that’s what explains the unusual phenomenon that, on the one hand, it’s
completely fair that women are reduced to the lowest level of humiliation,
while on the other, they dominate. It’s like the Jews, just as they pay us back
for our oppression of them by their fi nancial power, so it is with women. ‘Ah,
you allow us only to be merchants. Fine, then we merchants will own you,’
say the Jews. ‘Ah, you want us only to be objects of sensuality. Fine, then we objects will enslave you,’ say the women. A woman’s lack of rights arises not
from the fact that she can’t vote or become a judge— to be occupied with such
matters constitutes no rights— but to be equal to a man in sexual intercourse,
to have the right to use him or abstain as she desires, to choose a man she
desires, and not be chosen. You say this is disgraceful. Fine. Th en a man
shouldn’t have these rights either. But now women are deprived of rights that
men have. And, to make up for this lack of rights, a woman acts on man’s
sensuality, and by so doing, subjugates him in such a way that he only chooses
formally, while in fact she’s the one who’s making the choice. And once she
possesses these means, she misuses them and acquires enormous power over
people.”
“But where is this special power?” I asked.
“Where? Why, it’s everywhere, in everything. Stroll around the shops in
any large town. Th ere are millions, you can’t even estimate the amount of
human labor invested, but see if you can fi nd anything in ninety percent of
them for a man’s use? All of life’s luxuries are required and maintained by
women. Consider all the factories. An enormous proportion of them pro-
duces useless adornments, carriages, furniture, and trinkets for women. Mil-
lions of people, generations of slaves perish doing this hard labor merely to
satisfy women’s whims. Like queens, they command ninety percent of hu-
mankind and keep them in bondage and hard labor. And all this because
women have been humiliated, deprived of equal rights with men. And so,
they take revenge by acting on our sensuality, by ensnaring us in their traps.
Yes, it’s all because of this. Women have made themselves such instruments
for aff ecting our sensuality that men can’t even treat them serenely. As soon
as a man approaches a woman, he goes into a trance and loses his head. I
used to feel awkward and uneasy when I saw a woman dressed up in a ball
gown, but now I’m simply terrifi ed; I see something dangerous to people,
something illicit, and I want to call the police, to muster some protection
against the peril, to demand that the dangerous object be taken away, re-
moved forthwith.17
“Yes, you may laugh!” he shouted at me, “but this is no joke at all. I’m sure
the time will come, perhaps very soon, when people will understand all this
and will be surprised that any society could exist that tolerated such actions
threatening social stability, such as the bodily adornments that openly arouse
sensuality allowed women in our society. Why, it’s like setting all sorts of traps along paths and promenades— it’s even worse! Why is it that we forbid
gambling, but allow women to dress like prostitutes to arouse sensuality?
They’re a thousand times more dangerous!”

[Rever]

Women have power because men are unaware of their power.