By this I mean that a Woman must not only be a line, but a straight line;
that an Artisan or Soldier must have two of his sides equal;
that Tradesmen must have three sides equal; Lawyers (of which class
I am a humble member), four sides equal, and, generally,
that in every Polygon, all the sides must be equal.
The sizes of the sides would of course depend upon the age of
the individual. A Female at birth would be about an inch long,
while a tall adult Woman might extend to a foot. As to the Males
of every class, it may be roughly said that the length of an adult's size,
when added together, is two feet or a little more. But the size of our sides
is not under consideration. I am speaking of the EQUALITY of sides,
and it does not need much reflection to see that the whole of the
social life in Flatland rests upon the fundamental fact that
Nature wills all Figures to have their sides equal.
If our sides were unequal our angles might be unequal. Instead of
its being sufficient to feel, or estimate by sight, a single angle
in order to determine the form of an individual, it would be necessary
to ascertain each angle by the experiment of Feeling.
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