spiritual worship and undifferentiated sexual desire are
exceptions as far as she is concerned and must still be regarded as
abnormal.

This unbroken, determinative female eroticism may possibly be explained
(as Weininger explains it) by woman's sexuality, which is absolute, and
does not rise above the horizon of distinct consciousness, but
Weininger's dualism is in this direction attempting to value and
standardise something which in its essence is alien to his standard.

Psycho-physical unity, then, is the basic characteristic of female
eroticism, but the state of affairs in the case of male eroticism is a
very different one. A study of the gradual origin of the erotic elements
will facilitate a better understanding of the relevant phenomena.

In the case of woman, the primary sexual instinct pervades the whole
being; it has been refined and purified without any great fluctuations
or changes; in the case of man it has always been restricted to certain
regions of his physical and psychical life, and an entirely novel
experience was required before it could win to the final form of
personal love. This prize, in his case, is therefore enhanced by the
fact of being the outcome of a long conflict; the reward of a task still
showing the traces of the struggle and pain of centuries. The truth of
the words "Pleasure is degrading" had been established by experience.

A few historical instances, illustrating female eroticism, will uphold
my contention. In the remote days of Greek antiquity, we find an example
of undivided wifely love in Alcestis, whose devotion to her husband sent
her to voluntary death in order to lengthen his life. Wifely devotion
accomplished what parental love could not achieve. The _Alcestis_ of
Euripides represents a feeling very familiar to us. Penelope, the
faithful martyr, is a similar instance.

At the time when spiritual love, accompanied by eccentricities and Latin
treatises, gradually, and amidst heavy conflict, struggled into
existence, the soul of woman was already glowing with the emotion which
we, to-day, realise as love. I have three witnesses to prove this
statement. The _Lais_ of the French poetess Marie de France, based on
Breton and Celtic motifs, are permeated by a sweet sentimentality, very
nearly related to the sentiment of our popular ballads. They tell of
simple feelings, of love and longing and the grief of love. One of her
_lais_ treats the touching story of Lanval and Guinever