"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife". – Pride and Prejudice
I’m guessing Jane Austen never thought about the possibility that women would become self dependent or that men would develop a fear of commitment, other wise I don’t think she’d have made that sentence the opening line to her book. Considering all of the progress towards self-dependence our society has made throughout history it should come as no surprise that this “truth” is no longer “universally acknowledged” anymore. Even in more traditional social groups (see LDS religion) women and men do not abide by this anymore. I’ll pick on the Mormons in particular because I am one and therefore have a first hand view of the behavior of the majority of members, mainly those who are between the ages of 18 – 30.
Basically we believe that we came to earth to receive mortal bodies and gain earthly experience, that part of the Plan of Salvation is to also do everything in our power to live worthy enough to achieve the highest degree of Celestial Glory. However, no matter how perfect we may be if we do not actively seek an eternal companion in this life or the next then we will only progress to the second highest degree. Sounds kinda harsh huh? Get married or you aren’t allowed to enter into the club house?
It’s not meant to sound like that of course. As cruel as it may seem for those who constantly struggle with relationship issues, there are very good (for lack of a better word) reasons why we have to endure the trial of courtship. But even knowing that marriage is a necessity in order to enter the Celestial kingdom, there are still people (mainly men) who refuse to date and eventually commit to someone.… Do you understand what I’m getting at here? If we don’t date, we may not get married, if we don’t get married, then we may not enter the Celestial kingdom. Family is an essential part of Heavenly Father’s plan for us, a huge reason why we’re even given the opportunity to be here and YET we all avoid dating at one point or another. Who can blame us? Dating is a long frustrating and 75% of the time downright painful experience. Who wants to go through THAT? Oh sign me up! That sounds like so much fun! You had me at heartbreak!
I sound like a cynical bishop. Sorry. Like you need someone else telling you that you should be dating and then do it in a way that makes it sound as appetizing as eating boiled pig scrotums.
I hate to leave this blog with such an open ending but I need to start another tangent so I apologize. But I appreciate you reading this far down!
As always,
Your Heroin(e)
I’m guessing Jane Austen never thought about the possibility that women would become self dependent or that men would develop a fear of commitment, other wise I don’t think she’d have made that sentence the opening line to her book. Considering all of the progress towards self-dependence our society has made throughout history it should come as no surprise that this “truth” is no longer “universally acknowledged” anymore. Even in more traditional social groups (see LDS religion) women and men do not abide by this anymore. I’ll pick on the Mormons in particular because I am one and therefore have a first hand view of the behavior of the majority of members, mainly those who are between the ages of 18 – 30.
Basically we believe that we came to earth to receive mortal bodies and gain earthly experience, that part of the Plan of Salvation is to also do everything in our power to live worthy enough to achieve the highest degree of Celestial Glory. However, no matter how perfect we may be if we do not actively seek an eternal companion in this life or the next then we will only progress to the second highest degree. Sounds kinda harsh huh? Get married or you aren’t allowed to enter into the club house?
It’s not meant to sound like that of course. As cruel as it may seem for those who constantly struggle with relationship issues, there are very good (for lack of a better word) reasons why we have to endure the trial of courtship. But even knowing that marriage is a necessity in order to enter the Celestial kingdom, there are still people (mainly men) who refuse to date and eventually commit to someone.… Do you understand what I’m getting at here? If we don’t date, we may not get married, if we don’t get married, then we may not enter the Celestial kingdom. Family is an essential part of Heavenly Father’s plan for us, a huge reason why we’re even given the opportunity to be here and YET we all avoid dating at one point or another. Who can blame us? Dating is a long frustrating and 75% of the time downright painful experience. Who wants to go through THAT? Oh sign me up! That sounds like so much fun! You had me at heartbreak!
I sound like a cynical bishop. Sorry. Like you need someone else telling you that you should be dating and then do it in a way that makes it sound as appetizing as eating boiled pig scrotums.
As Elizabeth Bennet said: “Men are either eaten up with arrogance or stupidity. If they are amiable, they have no minds of their own”. Now that’s a rough and extremely unflattering description of men, I wonder why she wound be so bitter. Maybe because she had recently discovered that the charming Mr. Bingley had been led away from her sister Jane by the despicable (but highly misunderstood) Mr. Darcy. The same Mr. Darcy who insulted her the very first time they met then proclaimed his undying love (in less than flattering words) during their latest encounter. Now of course she was not completely innocent of stupidity herself and neither was Jane. After all what exactly was Jane waiting for Charles Bingley to do before she made it obvious that she loved him? Elizabeth… Well we all know she was a very lively yet sarcastic and judgmental person. If Jane was more open with Charles about how she felt then Mr. Darcy wouldn’t have felt the need to protect his best friend from getting hurt. And if Elizabeth had not been so proud she’d have seen the change that took place in Darcy’s behavior towards her. So nobody’s perfect. We all make mistakes but eventually (hopefully) we learn from those mistakes and move on with more experience. 
Why did I choose Pride and Prejudice for my analogy? Probably because I relate the most to Elizabeth, but mainly because it is the perfect example of what happens when misunderstanding clouds judgment in regards to relationships.
So bottom line, men suck, women suck just as much and we're all doomed if we don't get married to a sucker.
Why did I choose Pride and Prejudice for my analogy? Probably because I relate the most to Elizabeth, but mainly because it is the perfect example of what happens when misunderstanding clouds judgment in regards to relationships.
I hate to leave this blog with such an open ending but I need to start another tangent so I apologize. But I appreciate you reading this far down!
As always,
Your Heroin(e)
Posts
1 comments:
That is one problem I've always had with the LDS faith. It becomes so elitist, you wonder (practically) if/how Jesus made it to the Celestial Kingdom. So, then do celibate people who die single... Where does their salvation lie?
Post a Comment