THE DEBUTANTE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 209, 3 September 1932, Page 4 (Supplement)

THE DEBUTANTE.

LIFE IN FRENCH CAPITAL. HOW MARRIAGES ARE ARRANGED. The life of a French debutante differs a good deal from that of her English sister. For one thing, marriage is definitely and sincerely the goal of her "coming out," writes an Englishwoman now resident in Paris. Whereas in England, though nearly every girl would prefer a happy marriage to any other career, there is a certain, shall we say, "delicacy" which surrounds her motives. In France exists still a great prejudice against the old maid, and there is no place for her in society; you never, never meet an unmarried woman of over a certain age at a dinner party in Paris, or staying in a chateau. If a woman persists in remaining single she must then find a niche for herself in "good works," or become a nun. I say "persists in remaining single" because in France practically every single woman has a chance of getting married owing to the excellent and far-seeing system of the "dot" or dowry, which gives her independence, and a financial asset in the eyes of her suitors. Very often in England a girl has no income of her own save a sparse dress allowance; very often anxious parents hope their eldest son will marry "a girl with money" to enable him to keep up the ancestral home; very often he marries a girl "without a penny," and the ancestral home has to be sold. Independence of French Women. In France it is quite different—every daughter has her dowry, large or email as the case may be, according to the fortune of her parents; and then at their death everything is divided ■equally; the eldest son getting no more than the others, save in the case where the parents like to divide their property into one more share than there are children, so as to leave one extra share to the eldeft son; but never in France does the eldest eon inherit everything and the daughters practically nothing, as in England. This gives the French debutante a far more secure J

ijHmmiiiiHiimiimiiHiiimmmcjiiuiiiiminii standing, and, as well as her financial security, she knows that if a few eeasons pass without her having met somebody suitable and attractive, she does riot need to think she is doomed to spinsterhood, ae a marriage can generally be arranged for her at any moment. The youth of England would never accept to have their marriages arranged for them; but all the same, in France there are far fewer shattered homes and separated couples, and just as many, if not more, happy marriages. Parents are sometimes more experienced than their children, and know that it is a wise thing for. a girl to marry a life ehe likes, rather than bind herself for ever through infatuation to a man unsuited to her character and,tastes. Mutual Tastes. There are, of course, some mariages d'inclination, and lots of mariages d'amour which have been brought about all the same by skilful manoeuvring on the part of relatives and friends. In England a young man meets a girl and decides to marry her without considering her lineage, fortune or heredity. In France each of these questions is taken into account, and the question of lineage is very important indeed.. A girl of high rank cannot marry a coinmoner, and it sometimes happens that in those families of France that are impoverished, there are old maids, as the aspirants to their hands had not sufficiently blue blood. Our system of love ruling the day amazes French people, who, though they belong to a republican country, are far more particular about precedence than we are, and, indeed, perhaps it is that the old French aristocracy feel their glories are fast fading, and that, therefore, they must cling all the more to their family pride and traditions now that they have no hand in the government of their country, whereas in England these things are taken much more easily. The surprise of Paris society was great when the daughter of an English duke came and lived in the Latin quarter with her artist husband, as this would have been impossible amongst French people; and the daughter of a French duke who insisted on marrying a commoner a few years ago has been entirely cut off from her family for ever.