Meaning & Analysis
The proverb makes the fantastical claim that a woman, much like a cat, possesses nine lives, meaning she can survive numerous near-fatal experiences or endure extreme hardship.
Insights
Female Resilience and Endurance
The proverb is a powerful metaphor for female resilience and the capacity to endure and recover from immense physical, emotional, or social adversity. It suggests an inherent toughness and an ability to overcome challenges that might destroy others.
Adaptability and Resourcefulness
Drawing on the cat's agility and ability to always land on its feet, the proverb suggests that women are resourceful, adaptable, and clever in navigating dangerous or difficult situations, implying a knack for survival against the odds.
Vexing Persistence
In a more negative light, the proverb can imply a stubborn or vexing persistence. The quotations reveal its use in expressing frustration with women who are perceived as difficult to silence, control, or defeat in an argument or conflict.
Supernatural or Uncanny Power
Historically, the proverb is tied to superstitions about women's supernatural abilities. The 1570 quotation directly connects the cat's nine lives to a witch's ability to shapeshift, framing female survivability as something unnatural or magical.
Folklore and Witchcraft Associations
Rooted in historical folklore, the proverb reflects a mixture of admiration and suspicion. The 1570 quotation explicitly links the concept to witchcraft, a prevalent fear in the early modern period, suggesting that a woman's resilience was sometimes perceived as supernatural or uncanny rather than merely a testament to her strength.
Undercurrents of Misogyny
Many of the provided quotations, particularly from the 16th and 17th centuries, frame the proverb within marital disputes. It is often used by a husband to complain about his wife's tenacity, revealing a layer of misogyny where female endurance is viewed not as a virtue but as a source of frustration for men.
Symbolism of the Number Nine
The number nine has mystical significance in many cultures, often associated with magic, completion, and eternity. Attributing nine lives to both cats and women elevates their capacity for survival from the ordinary to the mythic, tapping into deep-seated cultural numerology.
Psychological Duality
The proverb encapsulates a psychological duality: it can be interpreted as praise for female fortitude and adaptability, or as a fearful acknowledgment of a perceived mysterious and uncontrollable feminine power. This ambiguity allows it to be used for both empowerment and derogation.
Rhetorical Devices
Simile
The proverb's central structure is a direct comparison between the resilience of a woman and a cat using the word 'like'.
Hyperbole
The claim of possessing 'nine lives' is a deliberate exaggeration to emphasize the extraordinary and seemingly impossible endurance being described.
Symbolism
The cat is a rich symbol of independence, mystery, agility, and survival. By linking women to cats, the proverb transfers these symbolic qualities, creating a complex and layered meaning.
Transcription
Quotations
Wyfe, a woman hath nine liues lyke a cat. Syr, you haue but one lyfe, and yet inough of that.
For witches haue gone often in that likenes, and therof hath come the prouerb as trew as common, that a Cat hath nine liues, that is to say, a witch may take on her a Cats body nine times.
A Swaine saying to his wife, that shee had as many liues as a Cat: she answered: And you but one, and to many by that.
There's two lives of the nine gone.
Your cat has nine liues, and your wife ha' but one.
They have nine lives a piece (like a woman), and they will make it up ten lives, if they and I fall a-scratching.
This Shee-cat will haue more liues then your last Puss had, and will scratch worse, and mouze you worse.
Some wiues (some say) haue nine liues like a cat.
I sure thought She had a Lease of talking, for nine liues.
A woman hath nine liues, and a cat so many.
Women have seven lives, and cats have nine.
A cat has nine Lives, and a Woman has nine Cats Lives.
They say, a woman has as many lives as a cat.
Cats, according to vulgar naturalists, have nine lives, one less than a woman.
Cross References
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
Used under CC BY-NC 3.0.