Sexual Life in Ancient India: A Study in the Comparative History of Indian Culture v2.c18.5.1

v2.c18.5.1

Strong-willed women are found, above all in the Mahābh., in great numbers. Indeed Eastern literature in general shows us, as has been already pointed out, the woman as being resolute, full of fire, passionate in comparison with the often so slack and sinewless man.² This characteristic comes out first of all in love. The fire of the senses is here also on the Indian doctrine far stronger in the woman, and it is not for nothing that the tender, timid sex so often takes the leadership in the Indian love tales, especially when it is a case of the fair one bringing about the tryst for the delights of sexual union that they desire as soon as possible, of keeping it successfully hidden, and of finding a safe way out when it is discovered.³ This characteristic is further shared by the tales of the other parts of the East, which for the most part come from India, or are inspired by it, and, most certainly not without a connection here, by the medieval, especially the French love tales.⁴ The woman is active, the man often quite passive ; he not only just lets himself be made happy by his beloved, but, in India, be also visited in the night.