"Man has no inkling of the extreme egotism in her devotedness; he considers himself very lucky and feels highly flattered to be the object of such fervent devotion; which always takes the form of submission, perhaps because woman has a bad conscience about it, wondering if it is not really egotism." — Kierkegaard
Woman lives through man's strength, through his courage and ability to bear-up under heavy loads and great thoughts. She cannot tread where he does, so needs him to traverse the land for her, the country she needs to experience and feel, but can do so only through another.
So she woos him, and he comes to love, and worship her. She senses that something is wrong here - woman is not stupid - though she is powerless to do anything about it, being a slave to her own heart. She has to force herself not to think too deeply about this state of affairs for fear of what she might find out. Perhaps out of guilt for her weakness she submits to the situation, and to him, who embodies that which she is submitting to. She is saying: "I know this is wrong, but my desire is too strong. All I can do is let-go and submit. I throw myself at your feet to prove to myself that you are the stronger." Thus does she avoid having a conscience about it. She merely has to convince herself that all things are too difficult to fight. Bowing and crumbling beneath all things serves the purpose admirably.