Power and Authority

Browne explores through her intriguing story set in late 1800s how English society was constructed under the Darwinian theory of 'survival of the fittest' which placed men higher on the evolutionary ladder.'Man's power is active, progressive, defensive. He is eminently the doer, the creator, the discoverer, the defender. His intellect is for speculation, and invention; his energy for adventure, for war, and for conquest... The woman's power is for ruling, not for battle - and her intellect is not for invention or creation, but for sweet ordering, arrangement, and decision... She must be enduringly, incorruptibly good; instinctively, infallibly wise-wise, not for self-development, but for self-renunciation: Wise, not that she may set herself above her husband, but that she many never fail from his side.' (Direct quote - John Ruskin, Sesame and Lilies, 1865, part II)But is she permitted to rule? Can women overcome the power struggle when they leave England and settle in the Australian colonies?Follow the fascinating lives of two families as they face challenges in their efforts to love, honor and obey their husbands at a time when women began the fight for equality. You might be reminded of your own Achilles heel in the process.