The Indiscreet Jewels · Chapter
XVI: The Muzzles explained
While the Bramins attempt to exploit the talking Toys for religious reform, a clever inventor named Eolipila markets 'muzzles' or portable gags to silence the Toys.
What happens
While the Bramins attempt to exploit the talking Toys for religious reform, a clever inventor named Eolipila markets 'muzzles' or portable gags to silence the Toys. The muzzles become a fashionable accessory among women of all ranks, undermining the Bramins' moral campaign. Despite the Bramins' condemnation of the muzzles as infernal, women continue to use them until they grow tired or find them ineffective.
Themes in this chapter
Satire of Court and Society
The chapter mocks the social frenzy for muzzles, from duchesses to cobblers' wives, and the sharpers who exploit public folly.
Critique of Religion and Morality
The Bramins' hypocritical attempt to use the Toys for moral reform is undermined by a simple gadget, exposing the impotence of religious thunder.
Truth vs. Appearance
The muzzles allow women to hide their true thoughts and actions, prioritizing social conformity over genuine confession or reform.
Characters to notice
Key passages
“Scarce had the Toys began to speak, when one of these sharpers fill’d the houses of Banza with a printed bill of this form and tenor.—Advertisement to the ladies.”
As soon as the Toys started talking, a con artist distributed a printed advertisement throughout Banza, targeting women.
Highlights the rapid commercialization of the phenomenon.
“The Sieur Eolipila ... has, in favour of the fair sex, invented muzzles or portable gags, which deprive Toys of the use of speech, without obstructing their natural functions.”
Eolipila claims to have invented a gag that silences Toys but does not interfere with their other functions.
Introduces the central invention of the chapter.
“The Bramins, who had declared the prattle of Toys to be a divine punishment, and flatter’d themselves with a reformation of manners and other advantages from it, could not without horror see a machine, which eluded the vengeance of heaven and their hopes.”
The Bramins were horrified that the muzzles thwarted what they saw as divine punishment and their hopes for moral reform.
Shows the conflict between religious authority and practical innovation.
“All the women took gags, and quitted them not, either till they found them useless, or were tired of them.”
Women adopted the muzzles universally, only abandoning them when they proved ineffective or when the novelty wore off.
Emphasizes the fickle nature of fashion and the failure of the religious campaign.