Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XXVI. The Women of India—The Widows—The American Zenana—Prizes Awarded in a Girl’s School—Annandabai Joshee—Her Visit to America—Reports to the Government—Departure from India—Burmah—Ceylon—Arabia—Cairo
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
CHAPTER XXVI.
The Women of India—The Widows—The American Zenana—Prizes Awarded
in a Girl’s School—Annandabai Joshee—Her Visit to America—Reports
to the Government—Departure from India—Burmah—Ceylon—Arabia—
Cairo.
From our point of view the social condition of women
in India is highly deplorable. The wpmen are not regarded
as the equals of men, but rather as an appendix to them.
Their religion teaches that they have no acknowledged rights
as individuals, and that the only happiness they can attain
in this world and in the world to come is to become wives
and mothers of men, and that the more a woman sacrifices
herself for man the greater will be her reward in the future.
If the man to whom she is married dies, the remainder of her
life is full of sorrow and suffering, and it is only in the life
hereafter that she can expect any happiness, and that by
being reunited with him.
This belief gave rise to the so-called "sati," or the custom
to burn the wife on her deceased husband’s pyre in
order that she might at once be reunited with him and
enjoy salvation through him. "Sati" is now prohibited by
the English government, but every widow in India is still
doomed to a life of misery and degradation.
When we consider that polygamy is practiced to a very
large extent among the rich, so that a man is allowed to
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
