" MARY: Catherine! Is it necessary to include such a detail?
CATHERINE: Do you expect our readers to believe that we had no bodily needs or functions for entire days at a time?
MARY: No, but such things are simply—unstated. They go without saying.
CATHERINE: It’s very fashionable now to include realistic details, no matter how unpleasant or improper. Look at the French writers. Look at Émile Zola.