[Hardy-l] sentence sense

[Bill Morgan]

Rosemarie Morgan wrote: 

I'd always  thought it referred to "motherwit" which is a mix of intuition, 
lore, instinct and some fine, deep intelligence writ along the blood which 
the  male (supposedly) might possess in far lesser degrees but if he does 
it is overridden by reason & logic.

Is that right gals?
Cheers
Rosemarie
PS I have never heard "motherwit" belittled or condescended to although it 
may be man's last resort if he has run out of his own "wit."


I don't disagree with you, Rosemarie, about the nature of the wit being
described.  But I was asking instead about the nature of the *praise* and
not the wit itself.  I think I detect in the passage in Life & Work a trace
of patriarchal anxiety: Woman's wit (or motherwit), being resourceful and
ultimately uncontainable is admirable but threatening to the male writer (or
perhaps any male) who is, whether he wishes it or not, implicated in the
maintenance of the patriarchal system.  And of course I'm not saying that
Hardy is always or even consistently "patriarchal" in his work.  I'm just
saying that his admiration for Jeannette Gilder's (and Elfride's)
resourcefulness is tinged with the anxiety of the custodian of the power
system in which he is operating and which she has successfully subverted.
The anxiety is less evident in the passage in PBE because of the
highly-charged erotic overlay of the scene, Elfride's single-layer wet
clothing being probably very revealing. 

And now, back to trying to write a recalcitrant lecture. . . . 

Bill