Redrawing the Boundaries of the Private Sphere

Abstract

In the early months of the war a woman who signed herself “sad sweetheart” wrote to the “editoress” of a penny woman’s magazine that claimed to be the favorite paper of a million homes. “[W]e have been so happy until this dreadful war broke out, and my dear one is to join his regiment and go and fight,” the correspondent wrote. “I feel my heart will break, and as though I can’t let him go. I am certain he will never return to me. I am torn to pieces with grief and sadness. ... Tears come into my sweetheart’s eyes when I beg of him not to go, and this makes things harder for me to bear.”¹ The editor, known to her readers for her sympathy, answered the letter in a conversational write-in column called “Heart to Heart Chats.” “Dear lassie,” she admonished, “I ... want to make you see how wrongly you are behaving. Instead of imploring your sweetheart to shirk his duty, you should have done your best to urge him to fulfill his duty in the spirit of a true British soldier. ... You could have done so much to uplift him and send him away with a heart full of hope and courage. ... Remember, dear, that although we women can’t go and fight for our country, there is much that we can do at home. One of the things is to cheer our dear ones—husbands, sweethearts, fathers, and brothers— and send them off to their calling with brave, noble hearts.”²