The Last Straw George du Maurier. Scanned image and text by George P. Landow [This image may be used without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose.]
Commentary: Like some of du Maurier's other works, such as "Domestic Economy," his satiric commentary on how little writer's wives understand economic facts of life, "The Last Straw" mocks the supposed economic naivté of women, who are supposedly above the sordid financial realities of life. Here du Maurier also implies that women are also unredeemedly, childishly self-centered and depend completely on men.
This very Victorian attitude obviously refers only to women of the upper and upper-middle classes, since throughout the last three-quarters of the nineteenth century many working-class women not only worked but, if married, handled the family finances as well.
References
du Maurier, George. English Society. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1897.
Last modified 1 July 2001