SBD -- Love and Marriage
Aug. 21st, 2006 07:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jmc_bksThanks to Doug for his post -- he SBD'd about the HEA: is a wedding ring required? The question of marriage as a necessary component reminded me of a book I read last week, Candice Hern's Just One of Those Flings. Eh. So, more about love and marriage for Smart Bitches Day.
The hero and heroine, Gabriel and Beatrice, meet at a masquerade and indulge in a brief sexual encounter. Gabriel, newly returned from India, is planning on marrying but also wants to find a mistress, and this lady from the masquerade will do nicely. Love (or the physical manifestation, at least) and marriage are clearly not close companions. Beatrice, a widow, is embarrassed by what she has done and flees the scene. Later, Gabriel, while still looking for his masquerade lady, begins to court Beatrice's niece. After recognizing each other a bit into the courtship, Gabriel gives up on the niece and more or less badgers Beatrice into an affair. She resists, but not too much. They both understand that at the end of the season, he'll announce his engagement and the affair will end.
Beatrice is in no way disturbed by the fact that she isn't on his marriageable list: she's older, has two daughters, and isn't interested in getting married again for a variety of reasons. As their affair progresses, Gabriel ultimately decides he will marry Beatrice. And announces his decision without considering that she may not wish to marry him. Beatrice explains succinctly why she doesn't want to marry -- this is not an impulse and she clearly has considered the pros and cons of marriage, ranging from the physical to the financial to the social. Oh, the quarrel and tantrums (Gabriel's) that result! The idea that Beatrice might truly not wish to marry him hadn't ever occurred to him. More things happen, plot-wise, then Gabriel says the Magic Words and Beatrice decides to marry him after all. No one had ever said the words to her, and that made all the difference.
My reaction: WTF? The words win her over? [Because no one has ever used them to get what s/he wants. ::eye roll::] Yes, I know using The Words is a big deal in Romancelandia, but still, being a cynical wench, it didn't work for me. Beatrice's primary reason for not remarrying was that she did not want to have to be a dutiful wife, obeying her husband, turning over her property and submitting her independence to the will of another. The Words didn't change that. In fact, all of Gabriel's behavior up to that point indicated a certain, shall we say, nonchalance or disregard of her desires in comparison to his. Based on his actions to that point (and the fact that he clearly Knew Best), I would've thought that he would be an autocratic husband. But of course, The Words mean more than actions or behavior.
In real life, I would have serious concerns about a friend doing such a sudden about-face because of The Words, especially given the preceding assholish behavior. Yes, people can change their minds, but Beatrice's change was so abrupt and based on words that contrast with deeds that it seemed a little wishy-washy and submissive to me. Am I supposed to suspend the disbelief since it's only a book? I don't think so. In my imagination, after a couple of honeymoon years, Gabriel's running the show and Beatrice is reduced to the same sorts of subterfuge that she engaged in (and hated) during her first marriage.
The hero and heroine, Gabriel and Beatrice, meet at a masquerade and indulge in a brief sexual encounter. Gabriel, newly returned from India, is planning on marrying but also wants to find a mistress, and this lady from the masquerade will do nicely. Love (or the physical manifestation, at least) and marriage are clearly not close companions. Beatrice, a widow, is embarrassed by what she has done and flees the scene. Later, Gabriel, while still looking for his masquerade lady, begins to court Beatrice's niece. After recognizing each other a bit into the courtship, Gabriel gives up on the niece and more or less badgers Beatrice into an affair. She resists, but not too much. They both understand that at the end of the season, he'll announce his engagement and the affair will end.
Beatrice is in no way disturbed by the fact that she isn't on his marriageable list: she's older, has two daughters, and isn't interested in getting married again for a variety of reasons. As their affair progresses, Gabriel ultimately decides he will marry Beatrice. And announces his decision without considering that she may not wish to marry him. Beatrice explains succinctly why she doesn't want to marry -- this is not an impulse and she clearly has considered the pros and cons of marriage, ranging from the physical to the financial to the social. Oh, the quarrel and tantrums (Gabriel's) that result! The idea that Beatrice might truly not wish to marry him hadn't ever occurred to him. More things happen, plot-wise, then Gabriel says the Magic Words and Beatrice decides to marry him after all. No one had ever said the words to her, and that made all the difference.
My reaction: WTF? The words win her over? [Because no one has ever used them to get what s/he wants. ::eye roll::] Yes, I know using The Words is a big deal in Romancelandia, but still, being a cynical wench, it didn't work for me. Beatrice's primary reason for not remarrying was that she did not want to have to be a dutiful wife, obeying her husband, turning over her property and submitting her independence to the will of another. The Words didn't change that. In fact, all of Gabriel's behavior up to that point indicated a certain, shall we say, nonchalance or disregard of her desires in comparison to his. Based on his actions to that point (and the fact that he clearly Knew Best), I would've thought that he would be an autocratic husband. But of course, The Words mean more than actions or behavior.
In real life, I would have serious concerns about a friend doing such a sudden about-face because of The Words, especially given the preceding assholish behavior. Yes, people can change their minds, but Beatrice's change was so abrupt and based on words that contrast with deeds that it seemed a little wishy-washy and submissive to me. Am I supposed to suspend the disbelief since it's only a book? I don't think so. In my imagination, after a couple of honeymoon years, Gabriel's running the show and Beatrice is reduced to the same sorts of subterfuge that she engaged in (and hated) during her first marriage.
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no subject
Date: 2006-08-22 12:49 am (UTC)Heh. Love this SBD. Thanks.
kate r
no subject
Date: 2006-08-22 09:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-22 12:50 am (UTC)I got your book--thanks so much! It went on the large TBR pile. Some possibilities for return:
John Irving, "A Son of the Circus."
Tom Clancy, "Red Rabbit."
Ruth Rendell, "The Babes in the Wood."
Richard North Patterson, "Balance of Power."
Anita Shreve, "The Pilot's Wife."
John Grisham, "The Last Juror."
I also have many random romance anthologies lying around. And I'm always ready to pimp Suzanne Brockmann's "Heart Throb."
Let me know!
no subject
Date: 2006-08-22 09:34 pm (UTC)Heart Throb -- I remember reading that a long, long time ago, maybe even before I read any of the Troubleshooter books. I may even have a copy of it somewhere (not on the bookshelf where it should be).