Poetry · Chapter
The Opposing Sex explained
The chapter presents a poetic lament about the widows of Ashur, who loudly criticize men and their faults while also nursing the very men they curse.
What happens
The chapter presents a poetic lament about the widows of Ashur, who loudly criticize men and their faults while also nursing the very men they curse. It depicts a cycle of reviling and self-contradiction, set in the Cave of Adullam, where no wooing or angelic influence can stop their defiling words.
Themes in this chapter
Hypocrisy and Corruption
The widows curse men while nursing them, highlighting a contradiction in their behavior.
Key passages
“The Widows of Ashur Are loud in their wailing: 'No longer the 'masher' Sees Widows of Ashur!' So each is a lasher Of Man's smallest failing.”
The widows of Ashur loudly lament that men no longer pursue them, yet they harshly criticize every minor flaw in men.
Illustrates the widows' contradictory stance of missing male attention while attacking men.
“At men they are cursing— The Widows of Ashur; Themselves, too, for nursing The men they are cursing.”
The widows curse men, but also blame themselves for having cared for the very men they now curse.
Highlights the self-defeating cycle of blame and care.