Page:The rights of women and the sexual relations.djvu/82

66 his wife like carrion, paid no other attention to her than to watch her with restless anxiety and to pursue her with querulous jealousy. She died suddenly by an accident. Did the husband fall into despair on account of her loss? God forbid! The weight of a mountain was taken from him, and he called out, relieved: "Now she cannot at least belong to any one else!" So he himself did not lose anything in her; still he could not bear the thought that she should be possessed by another. That proves that jealousy does not come from love alone.

The general conclusion will be that jealousy is more the result of wrong conditions which cause uncongenial unions and which through moral corruption artificially create distrust, than a necessary accompaniment of love. Let us imagine a community consisting of ten, a hundred, a thousand couples, all of them united by true love. Is jealousy possible among these two thousand lovers? I do not think so, because every single individual is sure of his or her beloved object through reciprocated love. Now let us imagine this community expanded into an entire nation, educated according to reason, in which both sexes have every possible opportunity for making acquaintances and entering into suitable unions: jealousy will be banished by the simple assurance of love.

The lady who asked the questions traced jealousy to self-esteem. At the same time she calls