WOMEN UNDER POLYGAMY
is penniless. The law and public opinion of Turkey demand that a husband or a lover must provide for the discarded wife, or mistress, as well as the children of the union.
A prudent Turk, before venturing upon plural marriage, reflects that the claims of his wives and concubines are numerous and heavy. Custom is exacting in this matter. Several wives require several servants, separate apartments, carriages—for harem women do not walk out of the harem grounds—expensive fashionable gowns and hats, jewellery, and, above all, generous dowries. Eunuchs must be kept and well paid, for they are indispensable. There are a hundred-and-one incidental expenses to be reckoned with. Moreover, several wives means a big family. And in Turkey, where family affection is deep, a father is bound by conscience and the law, to maintain his offspring in comfort, and to provide for their future.
Besides the economic deterrent, there is the growing sentiment against polygamous unions. A cultured Turk, with a cosmopolitan experience, ponders upon the family life of the monogamous countries, and discovers something admirable in its loving comradeship with one woman. He deplores the defective education of the mass of women in his own country, and asks whether polygamy is not in a large degree the cause of this.
In many respects single marriage in Turkey affords
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