...destitution, failed? 17-3 The harem: freedom from material want in a matriarchal space 'Upon the Whole, 1 look upon the Turkish Women as the only free people in the Empire,' wrote Lady Montagu to Lady Mar, Tis very easy to see they have more liberty than we have.'"...

...husbands; those ladies that are rich, having all their money in their own hands. Upon the whole, I look upon the Turkish women, as the only free people in the Empire; the very Divan46 pays a respect to them, and the Grand Signior himself, when a Bassa is executed,...

..."gallants" know who they are. Montagu ends this section with her now famous statement: "Upon the Whole, I look upon the Turkish Women as the only free people in the Empire" (i: 329).29 Where others before her saw strangeness to be noted and dismissed, Montagu saw...

...he is oblig'd to give 'em. (328-29) Such observations led Montagu to pronounce, "Upon the Whole, I look upon the Turkish Women as the only free people in the Empire" (329). Of Lady Mary's notions of liberty, Melman writes, '"Liberty' spelled out sexual freedom....

...end of the century: Tis very easy to see they have more liberty than we have . . . Upon the whole, I look upon the Turkish women as the only free people in the empire: the very Divan pays a respect to them; and the Grand Signior himself, when a pasha is executed,...

...they take with 'em upon a divorce with an addition which he is oblig'd to give 'em. Upon the Whole, I look upon the Turkish Women as the only free people in the Empire. (CL, 327-29) Montagu actually went further, claiming that the slave market was no different...

...they take with 'em upon a divorce with an addition which he is oblig'd to give 'em. Upon the Whole, I look upon the Turkish Women as the only free people in the Empire.114 Given the western view of the Ottoman Empire as the quintessential locus of servility and...