Its women shall be the voluptuaries not of pleasure but of pain, doomed to hunt for what they least dare to find.
The quote suggests that women will indulge not in happiness or pleasure but in suffering, relentlessly seeking what they fear most. It reflects a view that women’s pursuits are driven by a paradoxical desire to experience pain rather than joy, implying an inherent conflict or depth in their nature or journey.
This perspective portrays women as figures caught in a cycle of searching for hardships, highlighting themes of pain, fear, and longing. It emphasizes a darker, possibly philosophical exploration of human desire and the human condition, as seen through the lens of the quote from Lawrence Durrell's "Justine."