Thus Spoke Zarathustra: “On Little Old and Young Women”

Mar 15, 2008 - 02:03 AM PST

“Everything about woman is a riddle, and everything about woman has one solution: that is pregnancy.” Friedrich Nietzsche’s strong viewpoints on the nature and purpose of the female gender are discussed in many of his writings, including Thus Spoke Zarathustra. The work allows Nietzsche to speak through his character Zarathustra in efforts to explain the various aspects of a new idealistic society, including reforms of the state, the warrior, and the interactions between the sexes. Specifically, the section entitled “On Little Old and Young Women” focuses on woman’s character, the female maternal instinct, and the relationship between man and woman.

In the passage, the wise Zarathustra is confronted by another man who requests to know what Zarathustra is hiding beneath his coat. Zarathustra explains, “it is a little truth I carry. But it is troublesome like a young child, and if I don’t hold my hand over its mouth, it will cry overloudly.” He then describes his conversation with an old woman who requested that Zarathustra speak to her about the female gender. Zarathustra obliged, and provided the woman with the wisdom that follows.

Woman’s sole purpose is to be a mother. Because it is in her nature to strive for pregnancy and childbirth, woman views man as a “means to an end” in that he has the ability to impregnate woman, and also because woman takes advantage of society’s expectation that man should provide for his wife and children. For woman, the man’s sexuality and power is the means; the child is the end. “But,” Zarathustra asks, “what is woman for man?”
Nietzsche’s bold, oft-quoted statement on woman’s usefulness to man originates from Thus Spoke Zarathustra. “A real man wants two things: danger and play. Therefore man wants woman as the most dangerous plaything.” Nietzsche feels man should exist as a strong, powerful warrior, and should be educated to prepare for and engage in physical work and battles. Woman is most constructive when she exists to please and entertain man, and to focus her remaining energy on pregnancy, childbirth and motherhood. To Nietzsche, any other activities woman may choose to undertake are ultimately meaningless. In addition, the powerful warrior is not fond of “all-too-sweet fruit,” so woman’s naturally underlying bitterness is attractive to man.

Strangely, the female maternal instinct is seen as both an inherent weakness and a unique opportunity for women to exhibit strength. Because of her maternal instinct, woman understands children better than man does, but even so, man’s nature is more childlike than woman’s. Nietzsche does not expect the sexes to understand one another. Rather, he hopes for the sexes to recognize their differences and their separate roles in society, and to act accordingly. For example, it is man’s childlike nature that causes his desire for play, and similarly, playthings. Zarathustra describes his theory of man’s need for woman as entertainment in the sixth paragraph of the passage. “In a real man a child is hidden – and wants to play. Go to it, women, discover the child in man! Let woman be a plaything, pure and fine…” Here, Nietzsche deems it woman’s responsibility to seek out the youthful, naïve part of the strong warrior and to provide him with amusement. Further, Nietzsche believes woman should allow the expectation of a glorious new society led by influential warriors to be the source of her joy and love for man. By allowing the future rebirth of society to consume her, woman will be better equipped to raise children who will also recognize the significance of destroying the modern democracy. Woman should be “like a gem, irradiated by the virtues of a world that has not yet arrived. Let the radiance of a star shine through your love! Let your hope be: may I give birth to the overman!”

Nietzsche also places great importance on the need for woman to fear man. He feels that man has become domesticated because woman no longer fears or respects him. Man’s domestication reduces his warrior-like qualities and minimizes his power in society; therefore, woman is partially responsible for man’s failure to succeed as a patriarch and soldier. Similarly, woman becomes boring as her respect and fear of man degrades. Because of this, Nietzsche seeks a rebirth of the relationship between man and woman. Woman should fear the strong male warrior, and should seek to give love to the man who arouses fear in her. In Nietzsche’s estimation, woman understands little of honor. However, there may be honor in her love for the man she fears, if she strives to always give more love than she receives.

Even as he encourages woman to love more than she is loved by man, Nietzsche warns man to fear the woman who loves, because the woman who loves holds the object of her love in the highest regard, allowing it to consume her being, and will sacrifice anything, including her own morals and duties in the name of love. On the opposite end of the spectrum, man should also fear the woman who hates, because “deep down in his soul, man is merely evil, while woman is bad.” Here, it is assumed that Nietzsche defines man’s ‘evil’ as his real capacity for doing physical harm to another, but woman’s tendency to be ‘bad’ is equated with woman’s physical weakness. Because woman is physically weak, she must rely on her mental strength and cleverness to achieve victory in battle. Thus, woman is ‘bad’ when she hates because she is conniving, which, in Nietzsche’s eyes, is more dangerous to society than man’s exhibition of hatred via physical force.

What situation would cause woman to hate? Zarathustra suggests a metaphor to explain. “Thus spoke the iron to the magnet: ‘I hate you most because you attract, but are not strong enough to pull me to you.’” Therefore, woman grows to hate the man who initially attracts her but then fails to live up to her expectations, resulting in her loss of respect and fear of him. Nietzsche believes in reordering the world so that man is in control, and woman finds glory in his control. He states that woman achieves her ultimate satisfaction when she allows the man to assert his will to power, and relishes that assertion simply because man finds happiness in using his strength. To Nietzsche, women are shallow creatures who can only achieve depth of character by demonstrating her ability to obey man. “Surface is the disposition of woman: a mobile, stormy film over shallow water.” Woman is shallow because her entire sense of being is focused on procreation, and on winning and keeping the man who will assist in her childbearing endeavors. Man, however, exists with depth of character because he is a powerful warrior, focused on the betterment of his society and the rise of the overman; his sense of power and duty extend beyond himself and his private family in a way that woman can admire but can never comprehend or replicate. Because woman only finds true satisfaction in motherhood, she seeks to subordinate man to force his acceptance of the responsibility of a traditional patriarchal role, and to require his compliance as a biological father, a provider and a role model. Therefore, woman will find perfection in the world when she obeys man out of entire love. Woman’s shallow nature forces the suppression of her independence, because the liberation of the female gender will result in a world dominated by superficiality and selfishness.

Zarathustra’s conversation with the old woman in the passage concludes with the old woman complimenting Zarathustra on his knowledge of the ways of women, and her offering a bit of her own wisdom. The passage returns to its introduction as the woman cautions Zarathustra, “And now, as a token of gratitude, accept a little truth… wrap it up and hold your hand over its mouth: else it will cry overloudly, this little truth.” Then, the old woman granted Zarathustra this valuable piece of information: “You are going to women? Do not forget the whip!” Thus, the old woman agreed with Zarathustra’s analysis of the female character, but also recognized that what woman lacks in physical strength, she makes up for in sheer wit and cleverness. In order to ensure that man is able to overcome the ‘bad’ side of woman, man must be prepared to utilize his capacity for physical harm (or ‘evil’). The whip the old woman spoke of is merely a physical manifestation of the control man should seek to assert over woman and society. As Zarathustra travels, he hides the “little truth” obtained from the old woman under his coat, as instructed, so that he may always be protected from woman’s ‘bad’ tendencies.