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Hard fate when women are compell’d to woo!
(The Silkworm, by Robert Galbraith)

What is the sex of the person who woos in the example? By OALD, the doer of wooing is a male. Then, ‘Hard fate when women are compelled for men to woo them women’ is what the sentence mean? Or ‘Hard fate when women are compelled for them to woo men'?

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    Regardless of the definition linked (I've never heard of the restriction that only men can 'woo'), the case implies that women are doing the 'wooing'. If it were to be the men, the phrase would be Hard fate when women are compell'd to be wooed. So, your second guess is correct (however, it 'for them' is incorrect; Hard fate when women are compelled to woo men)
    – Rob
    Commented Oct 24, 2014 at 8:07
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    This question appears to be off-topic because it is about a usage which is vanishingly unlikely in current English (it's an archaic theatrical/poetic construction from several centuries ago). I do not think such texts are relevant to a Learner's site.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Oct 24, 2014 at 15:44

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The words originally appeared in the The Honest Whore, published in 1604. They were spoken by a woman who was obliged to do the wooing - of a man. This is seen as a reversal of the normal situation, when it is men who do the wooing.

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