Despite how happy everyone ends, this story is fundamentally a tragedy. Not a single woman in this entire world has autonomy. Even the FL is quick to point out that the one decision she thought she got to make freely was actually manipulated from behind by her husband the entire time.
And I’m not saying Antour and Roxina aren’t genuinely happy by the end of the story. But they are never and can never be equal in this relationship. She may tie him up in bed and he may willingly call his mistress, but everyone knows that at the end of the day he could legally sell her off whenever he wanted to. It’s only because the duke had a change of heart that the duchess isn’t dead in a ditch somewhere.
Despite how happy everyone ends, this story is fundamentally a tragedy. Not a single woman in this entire world has autonomy. Even the FL is quick to point out that the one decision she thought she got to make freely was actually manipulated from behind by her husband the entire time.
And I’m not saying Antour and Roxina aren’t genuinely happy by the end of the story. But they are never and can never be equal in this relationship. She may tie him up in bed and he may willingly call his mistress, but everyone knows that at the end of the day he could legally sell her off whenever he wanted to. It’s only because the duke had a change of heart that the duchess isn’t dead in a ditch somewhere.