WOMEN UNDER POLYGAMY
but "a social and intellectual existence, equal to, while different from, that of men." She states that educated men in India, both Hindus and Mohammedans, are giving attentive heed to the claims of women.
In the "Laws of Manu," the "Maxims of Hâla," and in other Indian writings, sacred and secular, we discover here and there a foreshadowing of the modern ideal of romantic love. Accretions in belief and doctrine, and probably the introduction of polygamy, the immolation of widows, and the precedence given to sons before daughters, obscured much of this ancient Aryan idealism, and weakened the position of women. More submission was inculcated to women; there arose practices that give evidence of a growth of the patriarchal system in family life, with a lessening of women's liberty and opportunity for freedom of social companionship with men.
Miss Margaret Noble and Dr. Ananda Coomaraswamy, whose opinions I have quoted, uphold, with fervour and admiration, the caste system, and practically the whole of Hindu customs relating to marriage and women. There are institutions to which they scarcely allude. They are naturally anxious to prove a case, and I must admit that, to a great extent, they succeed in their object.
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