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Quote 1. “It’s no mischief much while she’s a little un, but an over- ‘cute woman’s no better nor a long-tailed sheep—she’ll fetch none the bigger price for that.” Explanation and Analysis. Mr. Tulliver is concerned that Maggie is “over-acute,” meaning that she is overly intelligent. That Mr. Tulliver thinks it is possible for a woman to be too intelligent suggests that intellectual abilities are not valued in women in the nineteenth-century provincial community of St. Ogg’s. Mr. Tulliver clearly cares for his daughter, but he also worries for her future. It is “no mischief” (or no harm) for Maggie to enjoy reading and learning during her childhood, he says, but her intelligence won’t do her any good when it comes time for her to marry. He compares an intelligent woman to a sheep with a long tail—just as a long tail doesn’t make a sheep worth any more money, intellectual abilities don’t make a woman any more valuable to a prospective husband. In other words, intelligence is, for a woman, an unnecessary attribute. This point of view suggests that Mr. Tulliver and others in the community think that women should devote their time and energy to housekeeping and family duties, rather than to intellectual pursuits.