--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But you shouldn't have let her. That's…" description: "\"“But you shouldn't have let her. That's the only way with these fanciful women that chaw high--innocent or guilty. She'd have come round in time. We al..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41c/thomas-hardy-410_fanciful_but-you-shouldn-t-have-let-her-that-s-th_1733147.jpg" --- # But you shouldn't have let her. That's the only way with… ![“But you shouldn't have let her. That's the only way with these fanciful women that chaw high--innocent or guilty. She'd have come round in time. We all do! Custom does it! It's all the same in the end! However, I think she's fond of her man still--whatever he med be of her. You were too quick…” quote by Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41c/thomas-hardy-410_fanciful_but-you-shouldn-t-have-let-her-that-s-th_1733147.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41c/thomas-hardy-410_fanciful_but-you-shouldn-t-have-let-her-that-s-th_1733147.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41c/thomas-hardy-410_fanciful_but-you-shouldn-t-have-let-her-that-s-th_1733147.jpg) > ““But you shouldn't have let her. That's the only way with these fanciful women that chaw high--innocent or guilty. She'd have come round in time. We all do! Custom does it! It's all the same in the end! However, I think she's fond of her man still--whatever he med be of her. You were too quick about her. I shouldn't have let her go! I should have kept her chained on-- her spirit for kicking would have been broke soon enough! There's nothing like bondage and a stone-deaf taskmaster for taming us women. Besides, you've got the laws on your side. Moses knew.”” [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker believes that controlling a woman through restraint and societal expectations will eventually tame her, reflecting patriarchal and fatalistic attitudes. **In simple terms:** Control through restraint will tame women, according to the speaker. Key Takeaway Avoid imposing control; respect autonomy. Themes control gender society power tradition Mood critical reflective Type philosophical cautionary When to use this quote - marriage - family dynamics - legal systems - personal relationships Key Concepts patriarchal norms fatalism social conditioning Questions to Reflect On - Is control ever justified? - What are the costs of imposing strict norms? A Different Perspective Such coercion can cause lasting harm and resistance, not true compliance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fanciful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fanciful/) [Girl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/girl/) [Husband](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/husband/) [Kept Chained](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kept-chained-1448839/) [Laws Moses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laws-moses-1448841/) [Like Bondage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-bondage-1448840/) [Moses Knew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moses-knew-1448842/) [Spoiled](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spoiled/) [Strictness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strictness/) [Taming Women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taming-women-1448838/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“No matter how much grandeur a person has, if he does not like bondage even for a single moment, then he has become worthy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/no-matter-how-much-grandeur-a-person-has-if-he-does-not-like-bondage/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [Democracy, in its best state, is but the politics of Bedlam; while kept chained, its thoughts are frantic, but when it breaks loose, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fisher-ames/democracy-in-its-best-state-is-but-the-politics-of-bedlam-while-kept/) [Fisher Ames](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fisher-ames/) > [The more you meditate on the laws of Moses, the more striking and brighter does their wisdom appear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-quincy-adams/the-more-you-meditate-on-the-laws-of-moses-the-more-striking-and/) [John Quincy Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-quincy-adams/) > [I could show how largely our laws and customs are based upon the laws of Moses and the teachings of Christ; how constantly the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-josiah-brewer/i-could-show-how-largely-our-laws-and-customs-are-based-upon-the-laws/) [David Josiah Brewer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-josiah-brewer/) > [...it would be a mistake...to ascribe to Roman legal conceptions an undivided sway over the development of law and institutions during the Middle Ages...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/it-would-be-a-mistake-to-ascribe-to-roman-legal-conceptions-an/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [“Just because you have stolen someone's heart, luckily owned and occupied as a home, doesn't give you the audacity to enforce hurtful policies.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/just-because-you-have-stolen-someone-s-heart-luckily-owned-and/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [In dealing with good people one should be magnanimous; in dealing with bad people one should be strict. In dealing with average people one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zicheng-hong/in-dealing-with-good-people-one-should-be-magnanimous-in-dealing-with/) [Zicheng Hong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zicheng-hong/) > [I grew up in a Christian home. The strictness comes with religion in general. Whether you grew up Jewish or Orthodox Jewish or Muslim,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-farmiga/i-grew-up-in-a-christian-home-the-strictness-comes-with-religion-in/) [Vera Farmiga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-farmiga/) > [... the strictness of to-day may have at any moment to be purchased by the laxity of to-morrow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-augusta-ward/the-strictness-of-to-day-may-have-at-any-moment-to-be-purchased-by/) [Mary Augusta Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-augusta-ward/) > [“Education delivered by a strict councellor, and recieved with great pains would never brighten the future of any student.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/education-delivered-by-a-strict-councellor-and-recieved-with-great/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [It is the uninvolved parent who has to resort to strictness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-bocelli/it-is-the-uninvolved-parent-who-has-to-resort-to-strictness/) [Andrea Bocelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-bocelli/) > [“With discipline, you can lose weight, you can excel in work, you can win the war.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/with-discipline-you-can-lose-weight-you-can-excel-in-work-you-can-win/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [“All winter long, I had glimpsed his deeply set habits, his regimented schedule. When I left, he would eat a dinner of leftovers, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ling-ma/all-winter-long-i-had-glimpsed-his-deeply-set-habits-his-regimented/) [Ling Ma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ling-ma/) > [“But if you stray too far on the side of distance and strictness, you end up hard and unapproachable. So you need to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-mccluskey/but-if-you-stray-too-far-on-the-side-of-distance-and-strictness-you/) [Alan McCluskey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-mccluskey/) > [The necessity for rules and strictness is a way of dealing with an enormously powerful impulse: Germans are among the most emotional people on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-rattle/the-necessity-for-rules-and-strictness-is-a-way-of-dealing-with-an/) [Simon Rattle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-rattle/) ## More by Thomas Hardy > [“He grew away from old associations, and saw something new in life and humanity. Secondarily, he made close acquaintance with phenomena which he had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/he-grew-away-from-old-associations-and-saw-something-new-in-life-and/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [“She was in a sound sleep, Jude, dying of anxiety lest she should have caught a chill which might permanently injure her, was glad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/she-was-in-a-sound-sleep-jude-dying-of-anxiety-lest-she-should-have/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [Meanwhile, the trees were just as green as before; the birds sang and the sun shone as clearly now as ever. The familiar surroundings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/meanwhile-the-trees-were-just-as-green-as-before-the-birds-sang-and/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [You ride well, but you don't kiss nicely at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/you-ride-well-but-you-don-t-kiss-nicely-at-all/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [You could sometimes see her twelfth year in her cheeks, or her ninth sparkling from her eyes; and even her fifth would flit over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/you-could-sometimes-see-her-twelfth-year-in-her-cheeks-or-her-ninth/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [“It was mid-May time, bringing with it weather not, perhaps, quite so blooming as that assumed to be natural to the month by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/it-was-mid-may-time-bringing-with-it-weather-not-perhaps-quite-so/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [If Galileo had said in verse that the world moved, the inquisition might have let him alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/if-galileo-had-said-in-verse-that-the-world-moved-the-inquisition/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [Some folk want their luck buttered.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/some-folk-want-their-luck-buttered/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [Measurement of life should be proportioned rather to the intensity of the experience than to its actual length.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/measurement-of-life-should-be-proportioned-rather-to-the-intensity-of/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [“I was court-martialed in my absence, and sentenced to death in my absence, so I said they could shoot me in my absence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/i-was-court-martialed-in-my-absence-and-sentenced-to-death-in-my/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [“It being the first time in his life that he had touched female fingers under water, Dick duly registered the sensation as rather a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/it-being-the-first-time-in-his-life-that-he-had-touched-female/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [“As soon as she could discern the outline of the house, it had all its old effect upon Tess's imagination. Part of her body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/as-soon-as-she-could-discern-the-outline-of-the-house-it-had-all-its/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [ The perfect woman, you see \[is\] a working-woman; not an idler; not a fine lady; but one who \[uses\] her hands and her head… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/the-perfect-woman-you-see-is-a-working-woman-not-an-idler-not-a-fine/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [“The Sinister Spirit sneered: 'It had to be!' And again the Spirit of Pity whispered, 'Why?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/the-sinister-spirit-sneered-it-had-to-be-and-again-the-spirit-of-pity/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [“Justice” was done, and the President of the Immortals (in Aeschylean phrase) had ended his sport with Tess.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/justice-was-done-and-the-president-of-the-immortals-in-aeschylean/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) [Explore all 561 Thomas Hardy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) ## More Fanciful quotes > [Decapitation is a fanciful strategy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mearsheimer/decapitation-is-a-fanciful-strategy/) [John Mearsheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mearsheimer/) > [“When people’s parallel truth collides with their real truth, they may have a hard time in subduing all the fanciful items and characters of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-pevernagie/when-people-s-parallel-truth-collides-with-their-real-truth-they-may/) [Erik Pevernagie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-pevernagie/) > [Blue was a fanciful, but sensible thing. Like a platypus, or one of those sandwiches that had been cut into circles for a fancy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-stiefvater/blue-was-a-fanciful-but-sensible-thing-like-a-platypus-or-one-of/) [Maggie Stiefvater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-stiefvater/) > [“Reality had so intruded in my life that flowery verse seemed fanciful, foolish, even.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melanie-benjamin/reality-had-so-intruded-in-my-life-that-flowery-verse-seemed-fanciful/) [Melanie Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melanie-benjamin/) > [“Wait again. He was doing that fanciful thing, where he thought in poetry and looked in verse.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theresa-romain/wait-again-he-was-doing-that-fanciful-thing-where-he-thought-in/) [Theresa Romain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theresa-romain/) > [A written discourse on any subject is bound to contain much that is fanciful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/a-written-discourse-on-any-subject-is-bound-to-contain-much-that-is/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [“You know what, your imagination works faster than your mind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simona-panova/you-know-what-your-imagination-works-faster-than-your-mind/) [Simona Panova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simona-panova/) > ['Pleasantville' seems tonally ambitious, but it can handle a wide breadth of tone because it's so fanciful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-ross/pleasantville-seems-tonally-ambitious-but-it-can-handle-a-wide/) [Gary Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-ross/) > [“Her feelings about marriage were . . . fanciful and unrealistic.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melanie-dickerson/her-feelings-about-marriage-were-fanciful-and-unrealistic/) [Melanie Dickerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melanie-dickerson/) > [“I've often been accused of harnessing genre strategies to mainstream ends. I do concede that relationships, characters, and introspection are my primary interest. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-joy-fowler/i-ve-often-been-accused-of-harnessing-genre-strategies-to-mainstream/) [Karen Joy Fowler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-joy-fowler/) > [“Although, fanciful 's origin circa 1627 made me still love the word, even if I'd ruined its applicability to my connection with Snarl. (I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cohn-david-levithan-2/although-fanciful-s-origin-circa-1627-made-me-still-love-the-word/) [Rachel Cohn & David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cohn-david-levithan-2/) > [Milton had a highly imaginative, Cowley a very fanciful mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/milton-had-a-highly-imaginative-cowley-a-very-fanciful-mind/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [“I am not partial to folk who are grim and austere. I prefer fanciful folk who make me laugh.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-vance/i-am-not-partial-to-folk-who-are-grim-and-austere-i-prefer-fanciful/) [Jack Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-vance/) > [“Even the most fanciful story contains nuggets of truth. As readers, our job is to mine them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-gunter/even-the-most-fanciful-story-contains-nuggets-of-truth-as-readers-our/) [Michael Gunter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-gunter/) [Browse all 15 Fanciful quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fanciful/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“But you shouldn't have let her. That's the only way with these fanciful women that chaw high--innocent or guilty. She'd have come round in time. We all do! Custom does it! It's all the same in the end! However, I think she's fond of her man still--whatever he med be of her. You were too quick about her. I shouldn't have let her go! I should have kept her chained on-- her spirit for kicking would have been broke soon enough! There's nothing like bondage and a stone-deaf taskmaster for taming us women. Besides, you've got the laws on your side. 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