All language subtitles for The Bostonians

Our fight is directed against those that

want to keep women
in an inferior position.

Oh, I'd change my position
for yours any day.

That's what I said to myself
as I sat there in your comfortable parlor.

But do you reproach me
for having a little money?

Oh, certainly not.

It's the dearest wish of my heart
to do something with it for others.

Don't you believe in
the coming of a better day?

That it's possible to do something
for the human race?

Well...

What strikes me most, Miss Olive,

is that the human race
has just got to bear its troubles.

Why, that's what men say

to keep women in the position
they have made for them.

The position of women is nothing
but to make fools of men.

- Don't you believe in our emancipation?
- I'll tell you after the meeting.

Your cousin looks like a genius,
my dear.

He's only a distant cousin.
He's a lawyer from Mississippi.

He left his mother and sisters behind,

and he's come to try
to make his living in New York.

He's not in sympathy, I'm afraid.

Well, I've often found that people
are only waiting for the light.

Oh, there's our guest of honor.

Miss Birdseye,
what a pleasure to see you.

Excuse me. May I ask you,
who is that lady?

Mrs. Farrinder is the leader,
and you might say the apostle,

of the movement
to emancipate the female sex.

Oh, I see.

- How nice to see you again.
- Thank you.

Matthias Pardon,
representing the press.

Transcript, don't you know.

I'm hoping Mrs. Farrinder
will give an address.

I'll write it up for the Transcript.
You know, there is a great interest

in the movement
among the public at large,

and I'm here in the service of
the public at large.

Pro bono publico.

I beg your pardon.
Are you acquainted with the lioness?

I mean, the renowned Mrs. Farrinder.

Now, has she convinced you
that women are superior to men?

I guess I know more
about women than she does.

I'm a doctor. Prance is the name.

I'm Basil Ransom. Hello.

Men and women are all the same to me.

There's room for improvement
in both sexes.

Neither of them is up to the standard.

- Mrs. Tarrant. Dr. Tarrant.
- Miss Birdseye.

- Verena, my dear.
- Hello, Miss Birdseye.

The Tarrants.

Dr. Tarrant, he calls himself.
He's a mesmeric healer.

Miraculous cures.

If I might request
a few moments silence.

I'll start her up.

Quietly.

Quietly.

It will come, my dear child.

- Is she asleep?
- The spirit will come.

Let it gather.

Let it come.

The light.

The tide is rising.

Is rising.

I feel... I hear a calling.

A calling for help.

Uncounted millions have lived
only to be tortured.

To be crucified.

Ages of oppression
have rolled over them.

But the day of their delivery has dawned.

This is the only sacred cause.

This is the great, the just revolution.

It must triumph.
It must sweep everything before it.

It will be the greatest change
the world has seen.

And the names of those
who have helped to show the way

and lead the squadrons will be
the brightest in the tables of fame...

Do you know my cousin,
Miss Chancellor?

I can't say I know her,

but I guess I know
others like her pretty well.

When I look at the world and at
the state that men have brought it to,

I confess, I say to myself,
"Well, if women had fixed it this way,

I should like to know
what men would think of it. "

- They pretend to admire us...
- Do you like it?

What she's saying?

Nah. But I suppose she's been
taught all that by her daddy.

I say that if this is the best
they can do by themselves,

they had better let us come in a little
and see what we can do.

We couldn't possibly
make it worse, could we?

There is a brutal element in the world
which tramples down the feeble

and treads down the weak.

I stand in a place of peace and beauty,

and I look into a wilderness
of poverty and ignorance and misery.

The world is drenched in blood...

I guess I've heard it all before.

But she looks so pretty
when she says it.

I think she looks anemic
and she probably eats too much candy.

Well, I've got work to do.

I don't want the gentlemen doctors
to get ahead of me.

Oh, nobody'd ever get ahead
of you, Dr. Prance, I'm very sure.

- Good night, sir.
- Good night.

I'm only a girl.

A simple American girl.
And of course I haven't seen much

and there's a great deal of life
I don't know anything about,

but there are some things that I feel.

They are in my ears
in the stillness of the night,

and before my face
in the visions of the darkness.

Let us remember in our trials
and discouragements,

that if our lives are true,
we walk with angels.

If we trust one another,

if we are true and gentle and kind,

those regal ideas that struggle
for liberty will come forth

and spread their wings to soar high.

You speak well, and no wonder,
for you speak in a great cause.

Isn't she wonderful?

There's money for someone in that girl.
You see if she don't have quite a run.

Perhaps I could become
a sympathizer after all.

Will you come and see me?

- Where do you live?
- I know where Miss Chancellor lives.

I'm acquainted with your family,
of course, Miss Chancellor.

I believe your father knew my father,
Abraham Greenstreet, the abolitionist.

I want to thank you.

Mr. Ransom.

I was certain you would come.
I felt it all day. Something told me.

Mother said I'd better come right on.

Your mother saw
that I meant what I said.

I was shaken from head to foot.

What power. What power, Miss Tarrant.

It's a regular dreamlike place.

I want to know you.

I felt that as soon as
I heard you speak last night.

There's so much I want to ask you.

I can't say much except
when father has worked on me...

- I don't care anything about your father.
- He's wonderfully magnetic.

It isn't your father, it isn't your mother.
It's only you, just as you are.

Will you be my friend?

My friend of friends?

Forever and ever?

My carriage was ordered for three
and it still hasn't appeared.

You have a visitor.

Miss Verena Tarrant,
my sister, Mrs. Luna.

Why, you're on the stage.
What do you do?

Are you an actress? Do you sing?

I can never carry a tune.

- Verena has a divine gift.
- Oh.

Olive, we have another visitor.

Our interesting cousin
whom you so providentially discovered.

We'll meet again soon.
Very, very soon.

This is only the beginning.

Why, Miss Chancellor. Good afternoon.

I'm so glad my carriage is late
or you would've missed seeing me.

Oh, Mrs. Luna,
I would've been disconsolate.

I've come to say goodbye.
I'm going back to New York today.

Mama! I wanna go!

Newton, you know Mama will be back
an hour from now.

- I wanna go! I wanna go! I wanna go!
- Mama has to go, Newton dearest.

No!

Miss Tarrant won't be surprised
if I recognize her,

if I take the liberty to speak to her?

- Many gentlemen speak to me.
- We'll see each other again tomorrow.

Miss Tarrant,
I know what your ideas are.

You expressed them last night
in such beautiful language,

I am duly ashamed of being a man.

But must you go the moment I appear?
Do you flee before the individual male?

I like the individual well enough.

Won't you sit down again?

I'm certain Miss Chancellor'd
be extremely sorry to part with you.

You'll just catch the Charles Street car.

I would like to interpret for you
the position of women in history.

Now...

Well, what do you say to Helen of Troy?

The fearful carnage she excited...
all without the benefit of the vote.

Excuse me.

- He's a joker.
- He's an enemy.

An enemy of our movement and our sex.
You must fear him.

Do you?

I fear his ideas.

Tomorrow, we'll be alone,
and we'll talk and talk.

Just you and I.

All of Olive's friends are like that.

What an extraordinary young woman,
Olive. Is she your latest discovery?

Your veil is not put on straight, Adeline.

Goodbye, Mr. Ransom.

I hope you have a safe journey
back to New York.

Well, I thank you very much for...

Come away with me
and I'll explain her as we go.

I must get away from here.

We'll meet often.

I've made up my mind:
A winter in New York.

Look here, Mrs. Luna,
if your sister was not going to like me,

then why in the world
did she write to me?

Because she thought I'd like you.

"Then when a little more
I raised my brow,

"I spied the master of the sapient throng,
seated amid the philosophic train.

"Him all admire,
all pay him reverence due.

"There Socrates and Plato
both I mark'd,

"nearest to him in rank, Democritus,
who sets the world at chance,

"Diogenes, with Heraclitus,
and Empedocles,

"and Anaxagoras, and Thales sage.

"Orpheus I mark'd, and Linus,
Tully, and moral Seneca.

"Euclid and Ptolemy, Hippocrates,

"Galenus, Avicen, Zeno and Dioscorides

well-read in nature's secret lore. "

"Entsagen sollst du, sollst entsagen. "

- What's it mean?
- Thou shalt give up.

Entsagen sollst du.

It means to renounce everything...

yourself, your life.

Are you ready for it?

"I feel I am something of
a novice upon this platform.

"One of a race whose inheritance
has been outrage and wrong.

"Most of my life had been spent
in battling those wrongs.

"But I did not feel as keenly as others

that I had these rights
in common with other women. "

Ladies, no movement please.

"When we recited her Latin
and Greek to him, he said,

"'Very smart girls, unusually capable,
but can you cook? '

"I answered with the utmost patience,

"'Well, Mr. Quincy, we want to go
to Harvard College with our brothers. '

"'No, my dear', said he,
'That is not possible. '

"At that, I burst out,

"'Then I wish I were God that I might
kill every woman from Eve down

"and let you have a masculine world
all to yourselves,

and see how you like that!"'

What if I were to ask you to give up
your parents, everything...

Oh, how can I ask you? I must give up.

Perhaps you like me too much.

Of course I like you too much.

When I like, I like too much.

? When I was a child

? And you were a child

? In our kingdom by the sea

? We loved with a love

? That was more than love

? I and my Annabelle Lee?

"... rediscovery of natural order.

As in any democracy,
we must establish... " Come in.

"Cannot resist the vulgar... "

Oh, thank you, Tim.

Right here.

Ten cents, please, sir.

Would you ask Mr. Richard
if I might settle with him tomorrow?

Thank you.

"Cannot resist the vulgar temptation

to serve themselves. "

Serve themselves a bock.

"A true natural leader
will not keep another man down.

Neither will he set him free. "

Free.

"From manner, we pass naturally
to the notions of honor:

"Of what is proper
and becoming to a man,

"which constitute the deeper
essence of aristocracy.

"It is a sort of primitive uprightness
that has ripened and expanded

"into a great cleanness and decency.

"A holy admirable rectitude.

"And it is one of
the most pleasant things

that ever grew up on American soil. "

- All this must be very dull for you.
- I adore it.

Let me go! Ow!

Stop it! Let go!

Stop it! Stop it right now!
Get that awful brute off my Newton!

- Take your hands off him this instant!
- Stop it!

Don't you be calling my son no names.

- It was your little shrimp that started it.
- Are you gonna do it again?!

Newton, never start a fight
you can't finish.

Oh...

Let Mother see.

Oh, poor Newton.

He needs a father's guidance
to help him stand up for himself.

What do you hear from Boston,
from your sister?

Can you imagine?

She's brought that red-headed hoyden
into her house to live.

She's educating her.

Do you mean that rather striking
young lady whom I met in Boston?

Newton, you're too heavy
for Mama. Get down.

No, I don't want to...

Dori, would you come and get him,
please, and give him a bath?

- No.
- Go on, Newton.

No!

Yes, I remember your
being struck by Verena.

Verena? Is that her name?

If you ask me, I think she cares
as much for the rights of women

as she does for the Panama Canal.

The only right of a woman she wants

is to be able to climb up on something
where men can look at her.

But mark my words: One of these days,

she'll give her the greatest cut
Olive's ever had in her life.

Oh? What will she do to your sister?

She'll run away with a lion tamer.
She'll marry a circus man.

Unless of course you want to marry her.

You seem so interested in her.

Well...

I thank you for an excellent dinner.

You are not to belong to any Verena.
You are to belong to me.

The mind rules the body
with a scepter of reason.

Can you feel my hand draw out
the rays of affirmation?

Have you got that, Mr. Pardon?

Shut your eyes. Repeat after me.

I am the child of reason, and as such,

pure, perfect and without flaw.

I am the child of reason, and as such,

pure, perfect and without flaw.

Now, rest your mind from the thought.

Eyes shut. Shut, shut.

Now, draw back to the thought.

I am a child of reason, and as such,

pure, perfect and without flaw.

That is all for today.

This healing must not strain,
but descend gently.

I am the child of reason.

I want you to think of green fields.

Nothing but green fields this week.

Our next session will be on Thursday.

Remember to keep her knees warm,
we don't want fluid on her joints...

We're very grateful to you, Dr. Tarrant.
She's felt a beautiful benefit.

Have you got that, Mr. Pardon?

Thank you, Doctor.

It's time for Miss Verena to press
forward. I want to see her in a front seat.

What do you have in mind?

Her name on the biggest posters,

her portrait in the windows
of all the shops.

I'll tell you straight: I want to see her
in the music hall, at 50 cents a ticket.

We shall have to talk
with Miss Chancellor.

If Miss Chancellor hangs back,

I'm prepared to take hold myself.
Do you understand me?

The American public want to hear
Miss Verena, and they shall hear her.

Good day, sir.

I don't know what everyone's waiting for.

I don't suppose they're waiting
till she's 50 years old.

There are enough old ones in the field.
I've known a lot of celebrated ladies,

and had the honor of
condensing them into shorthand,

and some of them
were quite voluminous.

But I can tell you this:

There's never been
a more attractive female speaker

before the American public.

They try to, but does it mean
going to lectures?

- And getting up at 9:00.
- Oh, heaven forbid.

Pleasure to see you in our home,
Miss Chancellor.

It quite raises my appetite
for social intercourse.

Verena seems to be having
such a time with those gentlemen.

I have the most terrible prejudices.
I'm full of wrong ideas.

It's a privilege to hear you talking.
It's what I call real conversation.

First I catch one thing, then another.

Seems as if I couldn't take it all in.

Miss Verena has charm. And there's
a great demand for that nowadays

in connection with the new ideas.

There are just so many
who've fallen dead for want of it.

But Miss Verena ought to
walk right up to the top.

The truth is,
she needs to shed her father.

She don't want him pawing around her
that way on the platform.

It don't add to the attraction one bit.

Now, I'll put it to you, Miss Chancellor:

We could run her together.

Might I tempt you, madam?
The apple fritters are very fine.

If you sat down and listened for
five minutes, you would be convinced.

Do offer them over here, Father.

You know how students from
Harvard College are always starving.

Yes, for truth and knowledge,

- and, of course, principally beauty.
- They certainly teach you to talk.

We don't wanna talk at all.
We wanna listen.

You should listen to Olive Chancellor.

She knows much more than I do
and she has wonderful ideas.

- Go and talk to her.
- But we wanna hear you.

- You must speak.
- I can't.

I can't do anything
with a small audience.

- Gracie here's a host in himself.
- I wish we brought our friends.

Everyone in the university
wants to hear you.

We are sunk in ignorance
and prejudice.

I didn't realize you were
Harvard University.

Mr. Burrage is from New York.
He's very fashionable.

He goes out a great deal in Boston.

I've no doubt you know
some of the places.

His family's very rich.

Well, he knows plenty of that sort.

But he didn't know anyone like us,

so we told Mr. Gracie,
of course, bring him.

I speak seriously.
I don't want to make money out of it.

- What do you want to make?
- I want to make history.

I wanna help the ladies... in general.

And Miss Verena in particular.

They're asking me to speak.
What do you say?

I know you like me to speak.

Yes, at the right time
and the right place.

Now is your chance
with Harvard College.

These gentlemen will carry the news.
Make them gasp.

- Would you like me to start her up?
- I'll do it alone, if you prefer.

This might be a good chance
to try without father.

What do you want me to do?

Oh, come on,
give us the whole program.

I want you to address audiences
that are worth addressing.

Not to exhibit yourself to individuals.

I want you to touch the heart of nations.

Do as you like, my dear. I must leave.

- I can see you don't want it.
- Come with me.

- You're angry. What have I done?
- I'm not angry. I'm anxious and afraid.

Verena, those young men don't care
for you. They don't care for us.

All they want is to make us give up
everything we think is sacred.

No, they don't want that, Olive.
They don't ask as much as that.

Then go in and speak for them
and sing for them and dance for them.

Olive, you're cruel.

Yes, perhaps I am,
but promise me one thing,

and I'll be oh, so tender.

Oh, my poor darling's cold.

I'm selfish and dreadful, I know it, but...

But promise me that...

Verena, you'll catch
your death of cold out there.

Promise me not to marry.

Leave us alone, entirely alone for a year,
and I'll write you another.

The great thing is to help her to develop.

That's all we ask of you:
Just let her act out her own nature.

Don't shut down the cover,
Miss Chancellor. Just let her overflow.

Miss Birdseye?

Miss Birdseye. Good morning, ma'am,
you don't remember me,

but I attended an evening
at your house last year...

at which a young lady gave a wonderful
speech. I came with Miss Chancellor.

I remember you now,
and Olive bringing you.

But you live in New York.

- Have you come to stay in Boston now?
- I'm here on business for a day or two.

May I escort you a little ways?

A gentleman from the south
is not required to escort

an old Bostonian around her own city.

Well, only in chivalry, Miss Birdseye.
Old southern chivalry.

They didn't show me so much of that
when I was down there in the old days.

They were always round after me.

Why was that? On account
of your work for the Negroes?

Yes, I carried them the Bible.

A Woman of the 19th Century.

Verena Tarrant spoke on that subject
at the last convention.

Does she speak often?

She raises her voice a good deal

in places around,
like Framingham and Billerica.

It's as if she were gathering strength
just to break over Boston like a wave.

What a great pity she isn't
speaking somewhere tonight.

Tomorrow I have to return to New York.

Today she's visiting with her mother
in Cambridge. Olive mentioned that.

Where in Cambridge
does her family live?

Oh, it's in one of those little streets

that doesn't seem to
have much of a name.

Well, it must be called something.

Is it a street, a square, a place?

Yes, that's it. A place, yes.

- Monadnoc.
- Monadnoc.

- Monadnoc Place.
- I see.

But ain't you going to
see your cousin, too?

Miss Birdseye,
I wonder if you'd be so kind

as not to mention our meeting
to my cousin.

You want me to conceal that...

I don't want you to conceal anything.
I simply wish you'd let it pass,

not mention it.

I never did anything of that kind.

Won't Verena tell her?

She tells her most everything.
Their union is so close.

She won't want her to be wounded.

Well, you are considerate.
It's a pity you can't sympathize.

Perhaps Miss Tarrant
will bring me around.

You have before you a possible convert.

In that case, I won't say a word
to Olive about our meeting.

Hi.

Whoa, boy. Whoa.

- Miss Birdseye, I hope to see you again.
- I'm always about the streets of Boston.

219 West Newton Street.
Good day, ma'am.

I've decided to show you
Harvard College

because it seems to me that I ought to
do something for you in return.

In return for your kind visit.

- And the weather is so splendid.
- What an ideal guide.

Do you still make speeches?

Olive's told me about you. That you're
a great enemy to our movement.

If you regard me as an enemy,
it was very kind of you to receive me.

A great many gentlemen call.

Everyone's so interested.
In our work, I mean.

You know, this is where
I ought to have been.

I should have liked to study here.

Can't expect me to speak with
much admiration of an institution

in which the doors are closed to our sex.

Do you advocate a system
of education in common?

I advocate equal rights,
equal opportunities, equal privileges.

- So does Miss Chancellor.
- Oh.

I thought what she wanted
was a different inequality,

simply to turn out the men altogether.

Now mind, if you don't like
what's in here, it isn't my fault.

Why, is anything against Mississippi?

It's in honor of our young men
who fought in the war.

- Oh, it says they're brave, I suppose.
- Yes. It says so in Latin.

Well, so they were.

I ought to know that.

I had to fight.

I wish you could've seen us in June.

We just quivered, Mr. Ransom.

It was our convention.

There were delegates
from every state and every city.

Olive had six wonderful women
staying in the house, two in a room.

In the evenings, we sat
in the open windows and we talked.

And we talked.

We ate quantities of ice cream.

Well, now, Miss Tarrant,
I am forced to the painful conclusion

that you're simply ruined.

- Ruined?
- Yes.

Ruined yourself.

Aren't you going to see Olive at all?

She's different now.

- She's much happier.
- Why? Because of you?

She'll know you've been here.

- Not unless you tell her.
- I tell her everything.

I do.

If I don't tell Olive,
then you must leave me here.

And there mustn't be anything more.

There must not, Mr. Ransom, really.

Why, what are you afraid
there might be?

Miss Birdseye's hoping it will be.
She's hoping you'll convert me.

Just think how effective, out of darkest
Mississippi, I could blaze forth.

First-class proselyte.

Mr. Ransom,
do you know what strikes me?

The interest you take in me
isn't a bit controversial.

It's just personal.

Are you going to tell Miss Chancellor?

Come hither! Come here!

- Over here! Over here!
- Good afternoon, madam.

Ahh.

My son's letters are full of nothing
but you and Miss Tarrant.

And she is everything he says.
It's charming.

- What was it?
- "Lied ohne Worte" by Mendelssohn.

- What does it mean?
- Song without words.

She's growing from strength to strength.

Her dedication is unshakable.

It would be a privilege
for me to introduce her

to sympathetic circles in New York.

I hope you'll let me.
It would make me happy.

And it would
make my son very happy.

She is an original, no doubt.

I can see your attraction for her,
with your collector's taste.

Oh, Mother, it's a very different affair
from my collect...

- Mrs. Burrage.
- Oh, yes, Mr., um...

- Tom Gracie.
- Yes, Mr. Gracie. How are you?

- Very well, ma'am.
- Are you off to supper?

To a tutorial, I'm afraid.
How is the delightful Miss Tarrant?

Delightful. As always.

Bundle up, Mr. Gracie, it's chilly out.

Enjoy the rest of your visit, ma'am.

- Bye.
- Good night.

- Good night.
- Good night.

You've been so strange all day,
and yesterday.

Ever since you came back
from visiting your mother.

Your thoughts have been away from me.

You know, Olive...

I sometimes wonder, if it weren't for you,
if I should feel it so very much.

About not having a vote.

Women being exploited.

I feel it all the time.

Night and day, I feel it here...

as one feels a stain upon one's honor.

I know how it is for you,

how exposed to men you are.

Many would gladly stop your mouth
by kissing you.

Olive, you know what
you asked me once to promise you?

I will promise now.
I'll take any vow you want.

I hope with all my heart you never marry,
but not because you promise me.

I would rather trust you without.

You'll often be asked to marry.

I never will.

Don't promise. But don't fail me.

"The editor regrets... "

Respectfully yours, too, sir.

Thank you, Mary.

Perhaps, Miss Chancellor's idea
for Verena's future

may not coincide with yours... or mine.

Do you mind?

I know it's not what you're entitled to
expect. The daughter of a faith healer.

Oh, I like the girl, Henry.
Quite apart from my liking for you.

Well, you haven't met the parents.

It doesn't in the least matter.

A girl like Verena
makes her own standards.

Dear, how lovely you look.

Good to see you.

- Good evening.
- Good evening.

- Madam.
- Good evening.

Oh, my dear.

Are you a member?
I didn't know you'd joined.

I haven't.
Nothing would induce me.

Please come and hear
Professor Gougenheim.

I'll invite you.
He's going to talk about the Talmud.

This woman tonight,
isn't she from Boston?

You must be pretty desperate when you've
got to go to Boston for your entertainment.

Why, Miss Chancellor, how very nice
to see you again. May I join you?

It's very amusing.

We don't have anything
so brilliant in Mississippi.

And how wonderful
to see you and Miss Tarrant,

the heroines, on an occasion like this.

Do I look like the heroine
of an occasion?

Well, now you would
if you didn't hide yourself away.

Are you not going into the other room?

I'm going when I'm asked.
When I'm invited.

So, are you going to stir up
the fashionable world?

We carry our work where it is needed.
We have learned to stifle our distaste.

You will understand
when you listen to Miss Tarrant.

- Hm. Miss Tarrant.
- Why, what do you know about her?

Don't you remember my hearing her
speak that night at Miss Birdseye's?

That was the only time.

No, I met her again the next day
at your house.

Mr. Belmont, you really should
be going in.

- We're just about to start.
- Thank you.

Excuse me, Miss Chancellor, but if
you'll do me the favor to take my arm,

I'll find you a good seat
in the other room.

I recommend you find
a seat without delay.

If you've never heard Miss Tarrant, you'll
have one of the greatest pleasures of your life.

Mr. Ransom only comes
to ventilate his prejudices.

Oh, don't be so rough on me.

The last person I expected to see
at the Wednesday Club.

You never told me
you knew Mrs. Burrage.

Well, I don't. I never even heard
of her till she asked me.

Then why in the world did she ask you?

I suppose your sister
had her card sent to me.

- Let me find you a place inside...
- My sister, my grandmother.

I know how Olive loves you.

The chairs are all filled up,
but we could hear from the doorway.

We won't be disturbed here.

I don't intend to lose
any of the sport in there, you know.

Oh, you won't find much sport
at the Wednesday Club.

Isn't it more fun, just the two of us,
t�te-�-t�te?

It is the greatest pleasure
and privilege for me

to welcome Miss Verena Tarrant
on her first appearance in New York.

Some have called her a great
prophetess, some a poetess,

some a seer.

But I will confine myself to introducing
her to you only as a young woman

with an extraordinary awareness
of the great question

pertaining to the equality of women.

There she goes. She's off.

You stand on historic ground.

100 years ago, on this ground,

our forefathers poured out their blood
in the name of freedom.

In the name of freedom,
I ask you one simple question:

Do you think any good
can come to a society

where women are treated as slaves?

The public life of the world
will continue in the same...

It was her son's idea, of course.
Just between you and me,

young Mr. Burrage
is in very thick with Verena.

Verena goes around lecturing
how no one should ever get married.

But I think, in this case,
she's beginning to change her mind.

But first they'll have to deal with Olive,

because she has not
changed her mind about marriage.

And if you ask me
what offices we may fill,

I should reply, "Any. "

Let us be sea captains
and see how we prove ourselves.

The especial genius of women,
I believe to be intuitive in function,

spiritual in tendency,
electrical in movement.

Try us and you'll see.

I am not here to recriminate,

nor to deepen the gulf
that already yawns between the sexes...

You know, I've never understood how
Olive can bear Verena's really low style.

I'm surprised at young Mr. Burrage.
After all, he is a gentleman.

Certainly he can see
that she is not his type of person.

Let me find you a place inside. You can
stand on a chair, you can lean on me...

Sit down, Mr. Ransom.
Surely you wouldn't be so ungallant

as to leave a lady
absolutely alone in a public place.

That is what I should like to
press home to each of you individually.

Personally.

To give him the vision of the world
as it hangs perpetually before me.

Redeemed.
Transfigured by a new moral tone.

There would be tenderness,
sympathy, generosity,

where now there is only brute force
and sordid rivalry...

- How silly she sounds.
- You can't even hear what she's saying.

Mr. Ransom, my sister never sent you
an invitation to this place.

Didn't it come from Verena Tarrant?

If Miss Tarrant sent me an invitation,

I ought to at least return
the courtesy by listening to her.

If you rise from that seat,
I will tell Olive what I suspect.

Oh, what do you suspect?

That the two of you have
been in correspondence.

Have you been seeing Miss Tarrant?

Have you been going
to Boston on secret visits?

You've lost your head.

Who shall judge what we require
if not we ourselves?

We require simply freedom.
We require the lid

to be taken off the box in which
we have been kept for centuries.

You say it is a very nice,
comfortable, cozy box...

with nice glass sides
so that we can see out.

And that all that is needed
is another quiet turn of the key.

That is very easily answered.

Good gentlemen...

you have never been in the box
and you do not know how it feels.

Do you know how you strike me?

You strike me as men
who are starving to death...

while at home they have a cupboard
full of bread and meat and wine.

Or as blind, demented beings

who let themselves be cast
into a debtor's prison,

while in their pockets they have
the keys of vaults and treasure chests

heaped up with gold and silver.

The meat and wine,

the gold and silver,

are simply the suppressed
and wasted force.

The genius, the intelligence,

the inspiration of women.

We are the heart of humanity.

Let us have the courage to insist upon it.

- Don't you think it's all true?
- No, I don't.

- But it doesn't matter what I think.
- Oh, well. If you're so indifferent...

It's not because I'm indifferent.

Mr. Ransom here is about
the hardest subject I've ever met.

He will stand out.

- Don't mean to say you weren't moved.
- I didn't say that.

- What is it?
- Champagne.

Oh, I can't drink that.

- Is he a great follower?
- He's crazy about our movement.

But if you still wanna
draw me back 5,000 years,

I hope you won't tell Miss Birdseye.

She's very romantic about us.
About our relations. Yours and mine.

She is sure that I'm going
to convert you,

and that you're going
to become a champion.

And that when you get to the top,
it will all have been because of me.

A sort of marriage
between the South and Boston.

- A marriage of ideas.
- You don't want me to disillusion her.

You mustn't... ever.

Mrs. Burrage, I thank you so much.

I never saw an entertainment of any kind
which held me more completely by its charm.

I'm so glad you were able to come.
Wonderful creature, isn't she?

Yes.

Miss Chancellor is Miss Tarrant's
great friend and colleague.

Let me introduce Mr., uh...

No, I have the honor to be
a sort of cousin of Miss Chancellor.

- That is, if she doesn't repudiate me.
- Oh.

Well, if you're Miss Chancellor's cousin,

take her in to have some supper
instead of going so soon.

I'm very much obliged.
I never take supper.

These occasions leave me exhausted.

Oh, I can imagine that.

I'll leave you to be quiet
with your cousin.

You're in the best of hands, I'm sure.

I won't disturb you further
than to ask you a single question.

Where are you staying?
I want to come and see Miss Tarrant.

I don't say I want to come and see you

because I have the idea
you would not welcome me.

Why do you ply to me?

Well, it seems to me more decent
to go straight to you

for the information I intend to get.

If you won't tell me where you're staying,
perhaps you'll ask Miss Tarrant herself to do so.

Would she send me word on a card?

Number 11, West 10th Street.

You're free to come.

Of course I am. Why shouldn't I be?

Steady.

It was you who took him up
in the first place.

I thought you would have
married him by now.

Marry him yourself. What ever
put such an idea into your head?

Do you think I can marry every man
that follows me about?

It must have been you
who encouraged Verena

to send him an invitation
to Mrs. Burrage's.

Verena, to him?
Why in the world should she?

Why in the world wouldn't she,
since they're so very close.

She had seen him twice in her life
before last night.

- Is that what she told you?
- She tells me everything.

Are you sure? Are you sure
that last night was only the third time?

Adeline Luna, what are you insinuating?

I'm just warning you, that's all.

Mr. Burrage explains everything
so beautifully.

Did he try to make love to you?

I suppose it was meant for love.
He says he likes me

for the same reason he likes
old enamels and old altar cloths.

Ha.

Well, you know, Verena,
this isn't our real life.

- It isn't our work.
- No, it isn't. Certainly not.

How did you get his address?

Mr. Ransom's?

To enable Mrs. Burrage to invite him.

It was in a letter I got from him.

I didn't know you correspond.

He wrote me once. I never told you.

Why didn't you tell me?

I knew you wouldn't like it
because you don't like him.

I don't think of him. He's nothing to me.

- Now you suffer.
- Yes, you can make me suffer.

I never will.

I found this note when I came home.

He wants to see me.
He says he has so much to say to me.

Do you want to see him?

Well, I must confess, I'm curious.

He's so awfully opposed.

I would like to meet him
and make him give in

at just two or three points
more than I'd like anything in the world.

Needn't be afraid.

I'm strong enough.

Why do you make me say
such conceited things?

Look here, Olive Chancellor,
we can go home tomorrow if you want.

What do you want?

To do whatever you think is best.

And if we do stay,

will you be very much of the time
with Mr. Ransom?

I thought you knew by now
that I'm serious.

That I've dedicated my life.

I don't know why
you don't seem able to trust me.

Olive, I'm starving.

Get dressed.

I presume you want to be
President of the United States.

Ha. I certainly do.

However, since I shall no doubt
die poor and unheard of,

nobody'll ever know what visions
of greatness I stifled and buried.

You won't die unheard of.
When you start,

people had better look out,
with your will.

- What do you know about my will?
- I know it's stronger than mine.

It made me come out with you
when I thought I'd much better not.

Well, then... it's settled.

Miss Tarrant will come to us,
and will stay till she's tired of us.

Why do you want her
to visit you, Mrs. Burrage?

You must know that
your son desires to marry her.

My son firmly believes
in your movement.

And Miss Tarrant herself...

I expected success,
but I didn't expect what she...

What you gave us.

I know Henry will never again
care so much for any girl.

Oh, my dear Miss Chancellor.

The poor boy
has put the affair in my hands.

And you see, I put it in yours.

I think you have never seen
Dr. Tarrant and his wife.

You mean, they're absolutely fearful?

Yes, Henry's told me
they're quite impossible.

I'm prepared for that.

And we can,
we do offer certain advantages.

I need hardly say
that whatever means we have

are at the disposal of your movement.

You think I don't want everything
we poor women can get?

And how can I be sure that afterwards

you would still care so much
about the question

that has all our thoughts,
hers and mine?

You think we're feigning interest
only to get hold of her.

Now, that's not very nice of you,
Miss Chancellor.

Of course you have to be
tremendously careful.

I dare say you don't like the idea
of her marrying at all.

It would break up a friendship
that has so much interest for you.

Then I'm to understand
as your final word

that you regard us as quite inferior?

Oh, for public uses, absolutely.
Perfectly weak and second-rate.

But privately, it's another matter.

My plan is to keep you at home
and have a good time with you there.

You seem to think that I control
Verena's actions and her desires,

and that I'm jealous of any other
relations she may possibly form.

I can only say your attitude illustrates
the way that relations between women

are still misunderstood
and misinterpreted.

It is these attitudes we want to fight,

with all our strength and all our life,

Miss Tarrant... Verena and I.

Well, Miss Chancellor,
you're quite a speaker yourself.

No, I'm not. I'm awkward and dry.

It is she who is eloquent
and graceful and lovely.

My son admires her as much as you do.

Of course,
he would never obtrude himself.

But suppose he withdraws.

Do you think others would be
as reticent as he?

And would you feel yourself
as safe with these others?

What others do you mean?

Well, no one in particular.

But, for instance,
there is the young man

whom she asked me to send
an invitation to my party.

I believe he said he was your cousin.

Now, he seemed to me
like a possible admirer.

I wonder if I might give you
a word of advice.

My son is gentle, he's good-natured,

and he believes in your ideas.

Miss Tarrant would be, from every point
of view, safer with him than with others.

Adventurers, exploiters.

Or people who once they got hold
of her, would shut her up altogether.

Why don't you write out your ideas?

I have. Nobody wants to print them.

Editors are a mean, timid bunch,

always saying
they want something original.

But they're deadly afraid of it
when it comes.

So I get many letters.
They all start the same way.

"The editor regrets... "

Everyone regrets in New York.
That's all my clients ever do, too.

There must be something
very wrong with me.

What do you think?

No, I think you'll do pretty well,
except for your opinions.

You'll pay for that.

One editor sent me back a manuscript,

said my ideas were
300 years out of date.

But, doubtless some magazine
of the 16th century

would've been happy to print them.

Oh, he's right.

On the rights of minorities,
I am 300 years out of date.

But you see, I haven't come too late.
I've come too soon.

I'm very sorry you can't get published.

You must keep on.

And I hope you do succeed,

even though all you want
is to put us back.

You may denounce me
by name if you like,

only don't say anything
about Olive Chancellor.

There you are again.

You women. You always think
it's something personal.

- You always think it means yourselves.
- Yes, that's what people say.

Well, I don't want to talk about you.
My interest is in my own sex.

Yours evidently can look after itself.

Anyway, I'm tired of always hearing
about women and their freedom

and their education, their liberty.

Woe to American women
when you get going.

I love American women.

Only certain examples of it I can't stand.

Ones that run around screaming,
"Down with men. "

"Down with the love
between women and men. "

Not you.

Shall I tell you?

I don't believe you mean
what you preach. No, no.

It's just your sweet nature.

You always want to please someone.
Miss Chancellor, your parents.

Whoever else is dear to you.
But it's not really you.

You're meant for something different.

You're meant for privacy.

You're meant for love.

For me.

You paid your visit to Mrs. Burrage.

- Yes, I went through that.
- And what did she say?

She wants you to stay with her.

She says New York will be at your feet.

I won't stay.

I won't.

Olive Chancellor...

take me away.

? For is it not the glorious fourth

? We celebrate today

? This day gave freedom birth

? Its flame now fills the earth

? No storm from off our banner fled

? What glorious light they shed?

Well, I guess I go back a long way.

Not all the way to '76, but near enough.

I have seen changes,
I can tell you, glorious changes.

Verena, come here.

Oh, there have been so many.

Elizabeth Stanton, Susan B. Anthony,
Mrs. Lucretia Mott.

It's like we're one big army
just marching on.

Isn't that lovely?

? Columbia's free men brave

? Rejoice to do a dare

? This day the winds exalt to praise

? The stars and stripes in air?

Happy Birthday, Miss Birdseye.

Good afternoon.

Oh.

I guess it's time I should
take my remedy again.

You must tell me how much you take.

One spoonful or two?

Well, I guess this time I'll take two.

- It's homeopathic.
- I know you wouldn't take anything else.

Well, it's generally admitted now
to be the true system.

- One.
- I thought you were Verena.

Two.

Miss Birdseye...

you remember the last time we met?

You very kindly gave me
Verena's address in Cambridge.

Well, here you are again.
So it seems she has shaken you.

Yes, ma'am.

She has shaken me tremendously.

We have seven letters
for you, Miss Birdseye.

Why, Mr. Ransom.

Where in the world
were you washed ashore?

Well, I walked up, I found the door open,

Miss Birdseye seemed to think
I might stay.

Miss Birdseye, I appeal to you now,
I put myself under your protection.

Don't we have room for all?

Well, it was by my letter
that you knew we were here.

The one I wrote
just before we came, Olive.

Don't you remember, I showed it to you?

This is a charming place.

Only for you it has one defect.

Three-quarters
of the summer residents are women.

Miss Tarrant said in her note,

this is a place you can wear
your old clothes and lie on the ground.

Well, I delight to lie on the ground.
All my clothes are old.

I hope to be able to stay
three or four weeks.

- They've accepted one of my articles.
- They have? When does it appear?

I got a letter from the editor
of the Rational Review,

telling me he should be
very happy to print it,

and he should be very happy
to hear from me again.

Never fear, he shall
hear from me again. Oh, this...

This will seem pitiful to you,
but you see, for me,

this changes the whole way
I look at my future.

Why? Didn't you feel happy
about your future before?

No, I felt very blue.

But now...
now I'm building castles in the air,

and I'm putting you in the biggest
and the fairest of them.

Where's Mr. Ransom? I hope you
haven't pushed him overboard.

- He's gone off round the other way.
- I hope he's going to speak for us soon.

He's written a very fine article
for the Rational Review.

Well, it's delightful to see
the way it goes on, isn't it?

Oh. Verena Tarrant,
how cold your lips are.

There's something I want to tell you.

Mr. Ransom came out to see me
in Cambridge once.

We took a walk
and we saw the colleges.

I didn't like to tell you,
but now I want you to know everything.

What is there between you?
How can I believe you?

- You've deceived me.
- Olive, it was to spare you.

He wouldn't be here
if you wanted to spare me.

Do you mean that I brought him here?

I never in my life was more surprised
than when I saw him.

- What has he come for?
- He's come to ask me to marry him.

Help me. Help me.

Why not tell him plainly
that you love him?

Love him?

Olive, how can I love him when he tells
me he wants me to give up everything?

All our work.
Never again to speak in public.

He asks you that?

- In just that way?
- No, it's not that way!

It's very tenderly.

For heaven's sake, don't grovel!

How does he dare come in here?
Doesn't he know this is my house?

Of course he won't come into it.

He wants to meet me outside...

for just one hour.

And I've told him I will.

He says he wants to know me better.

Oh, don't leave me. You'll kill me.

You must help me, Olive.

Mr. Ransom, you have one hour.

Here, boy. Here, boy.

Nobody listens to me, see?

- Oh. Dammit.
- Are you all right?

Let me.

All right.

Verena, I need your help.

Nice and tight.

That's fine. I've got it.

Hello!

Hello, Mr. Ransom!

Basil, hello!

Olive wants us to leave.

Well, you tell her it's useless.
I'll follow you anywhere you go.

If I ask you very nicely to go,
to let me go...

Don't you see what you're doing to her?

I'm not worried about Miss Olive.
She's a fighting woman

and she's not given me
one inch of odds.

Can't I make you see

how much more natural it is,

not to say agreeable,
to give yourself to a man

instead of to a movement
or some morbid old maid.

Oh, no. No.

Shh. Shh, it's all right.

It's all right.

You know...

I'm going to have to be
tremendously nice to you...

all the rest of our days
to make up for all this.

Poor Verena.

Come on now.

Don't you understand,
it's not that he loves you,

but that he hates our cause.

He wants to prove a man only has to
whistle for a woman,

for you to come running.

You're not even listening to me.

No, I am.

I want you to say all this.
I want to hear it.

I want you to make me hate not him,
but what I feel for him.

Oh, don't let's talk.
Come and sit here beside me.

Hold my hand.

You're waiting for someone?

Why, Dr. Prance, I'm waiting for you.

- Let me help you.
- Why, thanks.

What do you hope to catch?

"The judge
had no sooner taken his seat

"than the officer on the floor of the court
called out 'Silence! ' In a commanding tone...

"upon which another officer in the gallery
cried 'Silence! ' In an angry manner,

whereupon three or four more ushers shouted
'Silence! ' in a voice of indignant remonstrance. "

Oh, don't stop. I am enjoying it.

Now, go on.

Mr. Pickwick rang the bell.
That's where we were.

"Mr. Pickwick immediately rang the bell,
and a coach having been procured,

"the four Pickwickians and Mr. Perker
ensconced themselves therein,

"and drove to Guildhall,

Sam Weller, Mr. Lowten
and the blue bag following in a cab. "

Don't you have to get back to the house?

I presume you don't know
what it's like

to be one of four women
shut up in a small frame house.

And Miss Birdseye doesn't need me.
She's asleep a lot of the time now.

Has she never wondered
why I don't come up into the house?

Have you never wondered?

I can't speak for Miss Birdseye,
but I don't wonder, Mr. Ransom.

If I did, I'd never stop,
this being the age of miracles.

You should hear them
up there in the house,

getting ready for Verena's
great appearance at the music hall.

The music hall is a pretty big building,

but I guess it's not so big
as Miss Chancellor's ideas.

I'm surprised Miss Chancellor
doesn't require more effort from you.

She's given up on me.
She knows where I stand.

Where do you stand?

I guess the same place where you are,
only I don't matter.

Isn't that strange?

They think women the equal of men,
and yet they're a lot more excited

when a man joins
than when a woman does.

What a pity it is
that you can't say "damn. "

Yes.

Hello.

- What?
- Olive will die. It will kill her.

- I can't be with you today.
- One hour.

We said one hour.

If you don't want me to appear in
the musical, you'll have to kidnap me.

Why sing in the music hall
when you can sing for me?

Verena!

Verena, hurry, it's Miss Birdseye.
Get back to the house.

- What's happened?
- Sir, it's Miss Birdseye.

Do we know what happened?

What?

She asked to be buried here.

It's the only thing I ever
heard her ask for for herself.

This is a queer place to give it.

And I'm a queer sort of messenger
for that kind of thing,

as I don't cultivate the sentimental side.

- I have a message for you.
- From Verena?

She says she can't meet you for a while,
for three or four days.

She wishes to be quiet
and think things over, she says.

I understand.

Well, I don't, but that's no matter.

I'm leaving, Mr. Ransom.

I have to get back
and see my office slate.

I hope we can go fishing again.

That will be a treat.
But my place is empty in the city.

I wouldn't have stayed so long
for anyone but Miss Birdseye.

Goodbye, Mr. Ransom. And good luck.

I thought Miss Chancellor would've
invited us to stay for a few days.

She doesn't want to inconvenience you.

I'll see you very soon in Boston.

You're looking well, Mother.

I can't say I've been
keeping perfect health,

and the sea air would be very beneficial.

You have a new dress.

I was afraid it might be a little too
colorful for the melancholy occasion.

We are anticipating great applause

on the occasion of Verena's appearance
at the music hall.

You've chosen a fine subject
for her, Miss Chancellor.

A woman's reason.
A very distinguished subject.

We shall look forward
to seeing you there.

And if in the meantime,
I might venture to offer my assistance,

whatever falls within
my humble means...

We shall certainly let you know.

Uh, Mrs. Tarrant and I feel it is our duty

to participate in the, uh, coming trial.

Our sacred duty as parents.

- Bye-bye, dear.
- Bye, Mom.

Take care.

Giddap.

Verena. Oh, Verena.

- I must see you today.
- I can't.

You go on, you tell her. Go on.

I promised him ten minutes.

You must believe me, Olive.
My choice is made. You know that.

You must believe me.

What will you tell him?

That it's impossible.

That I've thought it over and over,
and I can't, I can't, I can't.

Ten minutes. That will give me time
to finish my letter to Miss Peabody.

Mr. Ransom.

Verena!

- Has Miss Tarrant returned?
- No, ma'am, not yet.

It's getting late. I hope they
took the boatman with them.

That gentleman from the South don't look
like he knows much about handling a boat.

I'm sure he'll take good care of her.

Basil?

Verena!

Verena!

I'm sorry to disturb you. I'd hoped
for a moment I might see Miss Tarrant.

Miss Tarrant has gone away.

I took her to the steamer this morning.

Oh, yes? Where is she going?

I'm not sure I'm obliged to tell you.

Of course not.

Excuse me for asking. It is much better
that I should find her for myself.

- You won't find her.
- No?

No, I'm sure of it.

You there! What are you doing in here?

It's all right.
I have a ticket for the lecture.

For this seat here, C1.

I chose it so I could have the best view.

The lecture isn't until 7:00 this evening.
Please come back at that time.

Has the orator arrived?
Perhaps I might have a glimpse of her.

No, sir, she isn't here.

I understand she hasn't been seen
in a month. She's disappeared.

She will be here punctually tonight.
You have my assurance.

Will you please leave?

It's nerves.

He's here.

- Don't let anyone in.
- Don't worry, miss.

- There's no one's gonna get in here.
- Thank you.

Calm yourself.

This isn't like you at all,
to be so nervous and morbid.

It's more like me.
We seem to have changed characters.

We're together, you and I.
We're together, Verena.

Trust me. Lean on me.

I'd be obliged if you take
my card in to Miss Tarrant.

It ain't much use. You're just
the very man she wants to keep out.

I don't think Miss Tarrant
wants to keep me out.

It's not her.
It's the other one, Miss Chancellor.

Could you ask the organist
to play a little longer?

For goodness sake, keep playing.

I guess you'd better be quiet.

Quiet? Is it possible
to be more quiet than I am?

I've seen crazy folks
look a good deal like you.

Now... I wouldn't lose
the lecture if I was you.

Why don't you go and sit around
in the hall with the rest of the public?

- This lecture won't take place.
- Yes, it will.

As soon as the organ stops.

Why the devil don't it?

Sir!

Verena! Verena!

There's a lot of dollars out there waiting.

That's a fact
that should not be overlooked.

I won't be able to bear it. My ankles
are swelling up. It's always that way.

Go and speak to them. Will you speak
to them? Give her a few minutes.

I'm here. I'm with you.

Ladies and gentlemen...

I crave your patience for my daughter,
Miss Verena Tarrant,

who is with us in close proximity.

Trust me. Just me. No one.

...will come to
enable her to bring you the message

which you have all come here to hear.

Is it any wonder that she is what she is?

She was nursed in the dark s�ance
room, suckled midst meditations.

She had sat on the knees
of somnambulists,

she has been passed from hand to hand
by celebrated trance speakers.

Go home!

I myself have not been lacking
in a certain public notice.

And while we are waiting, you might
be interested to hear the report...

Why in the name of goodness
don't she go on?

If she wants them to call her,
they've done about enough.

- I have to go in for the Transcript.
- You can't go in for anything.

- I'm keeping this man out, too.
- Henrietta Stackpole from The Vesper.

May I ask if you're
a supporter of Miss Tarrant's?

I'm her greatest supporter, madam.
You may quote me in the headline.

Oh. How many times
have you heard her speak before?

About seven occasions.

Do you think she has a message
for men as well as women?

"A smaller hand and arm,
when next to a presented,

"dressed in a full-flowing
white illusion sleeve.

"This was said to belong to
Mr. Plimpton's sister, Mary.

"The blossoms were then distributed
between Mr. And Mrs. Plimpton,

"each receiving a tiny bouquet
from the hand of the spirit.

"The hand then waved, bid adieu,
and while doing so,

"the slate was projected
by another hand,

upon which were written
the words 'goodbye. "'

We want Verena!
We want Verena!

We want Verena! We want Verena!

I have never seen anything like this!
What the hell are they doing in there?

- This thing has gone on far enough.
- They're perfectly good-natured.

- Why isn't she up there now?
- It's her father who's up there.

If you don't open up this door,
I'm gonna smash it down!

Wait, please.

I'll see you tomorrow,
if you'll only go away now.

Let me go out there. It's only for an hour.

No, you're mine.
You can't take an hour out of it.

Is anyone aware that every
quarter of a second is worth $500?

They can have their money back!
Can't you give them back their money?

Verena Tarrant, you don't mean
to say you're going to back down.

Leave us alone.
Leave us alone for a single minute.

Just let me speak to him
and it'll be all right.

Olive?

As soon as I saw you, I was paralyzed.

I knew that if I tried to speak,
I'd be the most dreadful failure.

It isn't too late.
Let me go out there. Please.

Where will we go? What will we do?

We shall take the night train
for New York.

In the morning, we'll be married.

I will take her place.

Are you going to speak?
You can't go out there.

Ladies and gentlemen,
colleagues and friends,

Miss Verena Tarrant
is unable to speak to us tonight.

What I want to say to you is
that when there is a great cause,

the individual is of no account.

You've come to hear
not the voice of one individual,

however sweet, however harmonious,

but the cry of all women,
past, present and future.

And like the great
William Lloyd Garrison said

in his fight against slavery,

I say we will be as harsh as truth,

as uncompromising as justice.

On this subject, we will not think
or speak or write with moderation.

We will not excuse,
we will not equivocate.

We will not retreat a single inch,
and we will be heard.