All women want a mate. Tell them that at your own peril but it’s true. Better to be a corpse than a spinster. Oh, they claim there are other things to want and fight for them they do. But look closely. Listen to their conversation, read the books they read and the poetry they like and I’ll think you find that all of them – from the very old to the very young – have their eyes peeled for a partner. There’s no blame in it. Their mothers groom them, the dressmakers clothe them, the tutors teach them – to the highest of standards, but it’s all towards the same end is it not? It’s all towards the one purpose. To attach themselves to men. No wonder they hate us.
- Leo Tolstoy, The Kreutzer Sonata (adapted for stage by Nancy Harris – at the Gate Theatre, Notting Hill, London)
