I loved his simplicity and the old-fashioned prudishness that stops him even from spelling out 'hell', which he writes as 'h-l'.
During Queen Victoria's reign, the prudishness of the day led to segregated swimming.
It may, of course, be pure, old-fashioned prudishness that makes some women insist their men stay outside while they give birth.
The phallus could be intended as a way of poking fun at his prudery.
There is a parallel between Victorian prudishness and today's judgmental self-righteousness.
