My father, a feudal lord: Thou shalt MARRY thy first cousin Broderick or be sent away to a nunnery to die a widow!





Me: Pray tell, father... is my punishment for refusing the advances of the wealthy but revolting and dull Broderick that I shall be sent to live with a group of other “chaste” women, away from men all my life, able to garden and perhaps even to learn to read?





My father: Uhh—erm—





Me: No, truly, must I live a life of freedom with other women while my sisters languish in unloving marriages? Must I truly never bear 18 children, 16 of whom die before the age of 10? Will that be my fate?





My father: Look here—





Me: No, alas, it is sealed! I am to be sent away, never to return! Woe, woe is me!