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I banned the word “obey” from our vows and I rejected the white dress that pushed archaic notions of female innocence, chastity, maidenhood and modesty.

Rarely, in the chronicles of Day, was the preservation of maidenhood manifested in such dramatic form.

In it, the title character, a comely 15-year-old serving girl, is pursued by her rich roué of a master, who lays siege to her maidenhood.

With one stroke of such a knife my life would stream away—an undoing worse than the mere loss of maidenhood.

As idealized beings who belonged in the house, women were supposed to go from maidenhood to motherhood.