Mastered By The Whip

While in men it is possible to trace a tendency to inflict pain, or the semblance of pain, on the women they love, it is still easier to trace in women a delight in experiencing physical pain when inflicted by a lover, and an eagerness to accept subjection to his will. Such a tendency is certainly normal. To abandon herself to her lover, to be able to rely on his physical strength and mental resourcefulness, to be swept out of herself and beyond the control of her own will, to drift idly in delicious submission to another and stronger will--this is one of the commonest aspirations in a young woman's intimate love dreams. In our own age these aspirations most often find their expression in such dreams. Additional: The above was from an entirely unrelated work by Havelock Ellis that was offered as a preface in our source edition. The book itself chronicles the maturation and subjugation of Odette, from her tender youth to her full blossoming into womanhood and the understanding of her own desires.