Writer 1879: Solitary Journey in France

Chapter 285 The End of the Man

Lionel's question, "What happened after Nora left?" brought the room to a standstill.

The glow of the gas lamps illuminated the faces of the group sitting together, and everyone except Lionel wore thoughtful expressions.

After a brief silence, Maupassant broke it first.

He said in a lighthearted tone, "After Nora left? Ha! She can do so many things!"
The world is so vast; how could an awakened woman, determined to break free from a puppet-like fate, not find her own path?

Lionel tilted his head slightly, looking directly at Maupassant: "For example?"

“For example…” Maupassant began instinctively, but his voice trailed off after “for example.”

He opened his mouth, trying to quickly sift through the Parisian social landscape he was familiar with to find a few professions that could be considered "respectable" and "independent" for women.

He believed that only in this way could he be worthy of Nora's resolute attitude.

However, his mind seemed to go blank—a female painter? A female writer? No, that requires talent and opportunity.

Nurses? Perhaps, but that job is actually done by nuns.

Then perhaps… He glanced at Lionel, feeling that this answer was even less worthy of his earlier boastful words.

He thought for a long time, his cheeks flushed, and finally he could only stammer out a single word: "...private tutor".

The moment those words were uttered, the somewhat somber atmosphere in the living room was instantly broken.

Huysman immediately let out a sneer: "Like Jane Eyre?"

Then he deliberately began to recite in an exaggerated tone: 'Do you think that because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless?'

Ah, our dear Guy, you envisioned such a romantic yet thorny path for Nora!
She'd better pray she runs into a Mr. Rochester, who happens to have a mad wife hiding in the attic, and who eventually burns the manor down!

His words were full of irony. While Jane Eyre's story was moving, in reality, in Europe, governesses only meant meager income and endless chores.

They not only had to teach children to read, manners, and piano, but also had to endure the master's pickiness, the exclusion from other servants, and sometimes harassment from the master.

Educated women almost never choose this path unless they are driven to desperation.

Sérby was even worse. He chuckled and said, "Come on, Guy. You know perfectly well what kind of 'respectable' job Nora can do after she leaves, you just won't say it."

Aren't those places you love to visit the final resting place for many 'Nora's' after they leave home?

These words were like a fuse that was lit, and the living room erupted in a burst of laughter.

Even the usually serious Zuo La couldn't help but twitch the corners of his mouth.

Maupassant, stung by the words, was both ashamed and angry. He threw a cushion at César: "You damned mouth! I was just observing life! Observing, understand?"

The laughter gradually subsided, but the question of "what happened to Nora after she left" remained unanswered.

Zola coughed lightly, drawing everyone's attention back to him.

His tone regained its seriousness: "Well, gentlemen, jokes aside, this does reveal a harsh truth—"

That is to say, even today, in France, a country that prides itself on being civilized and progressive, society rarely offers truly 'decent' professions to women.

He paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone present: "The vast majority of women without family support can only find work as maids, cooks, laundresses, seamstresses, or governesses. It's hard work, the pay is meager, and there's absolutely no job security—that's the reality. After Nora leaves, what awaits her is not a path paved with flowers."

Lionel listened quietly until Zola finished speaking, then he slowly said, "What Emile said is exactly the crux of the matter."

But have you considered a longer-term issue? Ferry's education reform bill has already been implemented!
Starting this October, all children, regardless of gender, will be required to receive compulsory education.

What does this mean? It means that in the future, more and more women will be able to read and write.

These women come from all walks of life, the poor and the rich; they open their eyes to the world and begin to think.

He paused for a moment before continuing, "So, here's the question."

Can you expect a woman to receive an education while simultaneously accepting a subservient existence to men?
There is no such contradiction in the world; no one can be both smart and stupid.

What happens when knowledge and reality clash irreconcilably?

Silence fell over the living room once again.

Maupassant seemed startled by this prospect, muttering, "If...if thousands upon thousands of women awakened like Nora and demanded independence...then...then wouldn't that be..."

He swallowed hard, a look of panic on his face: "Will that be the end of men?"

In his conventional thinking, women's independence more or less meant the loss of male privilege, which made him feel instinctively uneasy.

Lionel decided to give him a scare: "Guy, think about it, there will be more and more 'Louis Michel's' in the future—and she's a schoolteacher!"

Maupassant almost cried out: "Louis Michel! That 'Red Saint'? The Commune's arsonist?"

Good heavens, Leon, do you mean that all those Noras who have read books will eventually become revolutionaries?

Then he answered his earlier question himself: "That's the end for men! One hundred percent!"

He seemed to see countless educated women breaking out of their homes and disrupting the existing social order.

He used to sing "The Internationale" with Lionel in a coffee shop, but now he's genuinely scared.

The commune can never be relived, but we can cherish the memories; however, the education reform bill has been passed, and the era of literate women has arrived.

Lionel nodded mischievously: "Is this the end of the world? You haven't even seen the British's white feathers yet..."

Oh, you haven't seen that Louis-Michel is going back to his country in November!

Zola shook his head: "No, Guy, that shouldn't be called 'the end of the world,' it's social progress, even though it may come with growing pains."

But I also don't know, 'What will happen after Nora leaves?' What kind of society can accommodate these women?
Ibsen only raised the question; he did not, and perhaps could not, provide the answer.

Just then, Lionel suddenly stood up, and everyone looked up at him.

Lionel smiled: "Just because Ibsen didn't provide an answer doesn't mean the answer doesn't exist. Let's go, gentlemen—"

Instead of just daydreaming here, let me show you what might happen 'after Nora leaves'.

(End of this chapter)