Oh, Lara's dream reminded me of what things used to be like for women here in Europe a few centuries back:
"Premarital displays of affection," he spat venomously, "*sexual intercourse* , even having a child out of wedlock---"
The crowd stirred.
"Burn the tramp!"
"Kill her!"
Well, usually she wouldn't be killed *just* for having had sex out of wedlock. If she was unmarried and he was unmarried, she probably would not.
"Strip her and throw her out into the street!"
But, yes, this could happen. And she would get a thorough beating.
"Furthermore," the figure continued, sending her an icy glare, "This callous whore then broke the cardinal rules of motherhood, the very laws set by nature itself. She abandoned her own offspring!"
If an unmarried woman was found guilty of abandoning her out-of-wedlock child, she would indeed be executed. And before they executed her they would torture her and maim her. Admittedly though, they needed to find the baby's body first.
"Even the animal kingdom behaves better than this," the accuser roared, now addressing her, "and then, as if you were somehow above the retribution for your crimes, you chose to lie and live as an 'honorable woman'. You liar."
Yes, this would have been seen as aggravating circumstances. Not only had the woman sinned, but she had lied about it and pretended to be honourable. Instead of bravely confessing what she had done as soon as she had had illicit sex and meekly borne the punishment that her society would have inflicted on her, I mean!
Women who were found guilty of adultery were forced to wear a
whore\'s red hat for the rest of their lives, so that people could not mistake these women for honorable persons!
And then Lara dreamed that she had a miscarriage, and she thought it was divine punishment - a woman like her did not deserve to have children!
Ann
Mary
