Unnamed Jefferson Ladies 3

In "Skirmish at Sartoris" and again in the chapter with that title in The Unvanquished, Bayard says that "all the ladies in Jefferson" (58) - in the second text this is revised to "all the women in Jefferson" (188) - travel out to the Sartoris plantation on several occasions: to confront Drusilla for her unlady-like behavior and to attend the wedding that will ceremonialize her return to their fold. The first time they appear, there are "fourteen of them," though that total includes Martha Habersham (63, 194). They all seem both curious and outraged by what they see. The narrative juxtaposes the mission of these ladies to the work John Sartoris and their husbands are doing "back in Jefferson" to preserve their white male power (63, 194). (Note how small this group is: either as "ladies" or as "women," "all" such people in Jefferson are white, and upper class.)