human
But that is just the most insulting thing about it, Hadria exclaimed.
gpt
Insult is so much a matter of course that people are surprised if one takes umbrage at it. Read this passage from Aristotle that I came upon the other day. He is perfectly calm and amiable, entirely unconscious of offence, when he says that 'a wife ought to shew herself even more obedient to the rein than if she entered the house as a purchased slave. For she has been bought at a high price, for the sake of sharing life and bearing children, than which no higher or holier tie can possibly exist.' (Henriette to the very life!)
human
Do you suppose insult is deliberately intended in that graceful sentiment? asked Hadria.
gpt
Obviously not. If any woman of that time had blazed up in anger at the well-meant speech, she would have astonished and grieved her contemporaries. Aristotle doubtless professed a high respect for women who followed his precepts--as men do now when we are obedient.
human
Of course, our society in this particular has not wandered far from the Greek idea,
gpt
The sharpness of the insult lies in its not being intended.