SUSAN. When woman was meant to occupy the noblest spheres? Wives? Faugh!
Housewives? Faugh! Let us take the work of the men, and do it! Follow
the bright banner of Susan Jane Jones, the Militant Suffragette, and
drive the men into the sea! I have heard the story of your wrongs--
KATE. Well, I do think Henry was just too mean for anything.
SUSAN. Sewing! Scrubbing! Have you women never wished to do the work of
men?
KATE. Yes, I have. I always wanted to be a doctor, but my father
wouldn't hear of it.
GRACE. What kind of a doctor, Kate?
KATE. Oh, a handsome doctor with curly gray hair. And you, Grace?
GRACE. Oh, I want to be a lawyer, a plump, jolly lawyer. And you, Edith?
EDITH. I want to be an editor.
GRACE. Republican or Democrat?
EDITH. I don't know. The kind with a big automobile. And you, Ida?
IDA. I want to be a politician.
Mat. An honest one, of course.
IDA. Well, no. A successful politician. And you, May?
Mat. I want to run a vegetable market, where the women can come with
their market baskets.
SUSAN. Where the _men_ can come with their market baskets, (_to_
PAULINE) And you, you poor creature, have you never felt the longing to
usurp man's sphere? Have you never longed to do a man's work?
PAULINE. Oh, yes, mam. This humble heart (_tapping her waist_) has felt
the what-you-call it many a time. I have always wished, mam, to be a
pirate.
All. A pirate!