The cat down through the ages has been ubiquitous in our literature, poetry and culture. Perhaps as a symbol there is nowhere it appears more often than in our everyday proverbs and expressions. Take for example, the phrase “to play cat and mouse.” Where did it come from and has its meaning changed through the passage of time?
The torture of the poor little mouse at the hands of its oppressor, the much larger feline, is one of nature’s crueler struggles. It is a very democratic one, however, as there can be little doubt that everyone’s mind conjures the same image. We all see and have sympathy for the little terrified creature who has been cornered and desperately seeks the chance to slip up a hole, only to be pounced upon unmercifully again and again.
The expression has its roots in the suffragette movement, and dates back to 1913 in England. Women were arrested for disturbing the peace and they resorted to hunger strikes to attract attention, thereby endangering their health. Parliament, in defiance of their proffered martyrdom, passed an act known as “The Prisoners’ Temporary-Discharge for Ill-Health Act,” which immediately became known as the “Cat and Mouse Act.” The law provided that a starving striker could be released from prison, but was subject to re-arrest and to serve out the remainder of the sentence when the danger to health was removed.
How would the cats and mice feel about this information if they could process it? No one can say for sure, but one thing is certain. When the poor little mouse is running from the big, bad cat, the suffrage movement is the very last thing on its mind unless, that is, there is some sort of an escape clause written into the new voting arrangement.
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“The Cat In Modern Language”
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