WOMEN IN ITALY.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XL, Issue 9257, 5 December 1891, Page 1 (Supplement)

WOMEN IN ITALY.

A lecture on this subject was given recently by Signora Zampiui Silazuro, an I Italian lady interested in improving the condition of the lives of her couutrywomen. The Signora said that women in her native country were still looked upon as the moral slaves of men, as was illustrated by the civil and penal codes, and a low opinion of them was very general. Nothing was provided to elevate their -characters, or to make them self-reliant or strong. Though large sums of money were spent by the Government for national culture, few benefits were conferred on women, notwithstanding the fact that women iv Italy had in past years held high positions and exercised a considerable influence m ioLt<3i.->, auiunoo, aud art. Besides tiie low state of education, the social position of woman in Italy was much to he deplored. SLe had no word iv her own love affairs, and was married at an early age to a man, in many cases unrefined and brutal, who had the power at any time to deprive her of all civil rights on the slightest ground of suspicion. Thus it often happened that the happiest marriages were those with, foreigners. Married women had no social freedom, and could not ever go out alone ; the unmarried ones were supposed to look after the children of their married brothers and sisters, for it was considered degrading if they took to business. There were also prejudices against women writers. Their Queen, a kind-hearted and most gifted woman herself, recognized these disadvantages, and encouraged all that was being done to improve the condition of woman , and there were many cultivated and influential men who were in favour of the elevation of their less fortunatle sisters, and who wished for opportunities of enjoying intercourse with them more than existed at present.