The Southern Literary Messenger, Vol. I., No. 9, May, 1835Various
History
The Southern Literary Messenger, Vol. I., No. 9, May, 1835
Various
American literature -- 19th century -- Periodicals
The effects which I have been describing as flowing from disappointed
love, are certainly of an extreme character, happening only in the
case of ardent temperaments, combined with a concurrence of
circumstances which generate intense and all absorbing affection for
the beloved object. In these cases, when all hope is entirely
eradicated, there is certainly a tendency to peevishness, fretfulness,
whim, suspicion and misanthropy; and against these consequences the
individual ought always to be on his guard. He should not charge to
the human race, or even to the whole sex, the vices which he thinks he
sees in a single individual. This is a case in which kind friends,
especially females, may do much to soothe and tranquillize the mind.
Women alone seem to have enough of that deep discernment, nice tact,
and generous sympathy, which can administer consolation to a wounded
heart and calm the irritated feelings of blasted hope. In the great
majority of cases however, the disappointed lover plunges into the
business and scenes of active life, forms new associations and
attachments, and quickly forgets his former love, without any
permanent effect being produced on the character by mere
disappointment. Man (says Dr. Cogan on the passions) rarely runs any
serious risk from disappointment in love. "If he have not speedy
recourse to the pistol or the rope, he will probably survive the
agonies under which the softer sex will gradually pine and die."
I will now examine briefly, a few of the effects produced on the
character of the male, during the period of courtship in society,
organized as it is in this country and Europe,--and certainly one of
the most marked effects, is the strengthening of vanity and the
weakening of pride. As it is the province of man to woo and to win,
his constant aim must be to render himself agreeable to the object of
his affections. To gain her esteem, her approbation, _her love_, is
the object of all his efforts. Now this is vanity. The proudest heart,
the soul of sternest stuff, by the operation of this all subduing
passion of love, is made to yield--to become a candidate for the
praise of her whose affections he so much covets. In this condition we
are all more or less like Petrarch, who declared that "she (Laura) was
the motive and object of all his studies--that he coveted glory only
as it might secure _her esteem_--that she alone had taught him to
desire life, and to lift his thoughts towards heaven." In his
"Conversations with St. Augustin," he even confesses that he was more
ardent in his desire for the _Laurel Crown_, on account of its
affinity to the name of Laura. Now, although this vanity seeks the
approbation directly of but one, yet as she is regulated by the
opinion of the world, we quickly find it necessary to gain the good
opinion and esteem of those around us, in order, by their means, to
win the approbation of the object of our affections. Hence, however
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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