Yesterday, I read 'Patricia Brent, Spinster' by Herbert Jenkins. The book is about a girl, stuck in life as a secretary, forced to live in a boarding house. She hears the old cats at the house pitying her for not having a man. On an impulse she announces that she will be meeting her fiance at a fancy hotel the next day. This thunderbolt sends all the pussies quivering with curiosity.
The next day she is forced to keep up the pretense and goes to the hotel. She thinks that she will have a quiet dinner alone. Lo and behold she finds the cats have come to spy on her. In a lightening flash, she goes up to a man and asks him to play up to her (The man obviously is a lord and the most eligible man in England) . They have such a good time together, that the inevitable happens, they fall in love. The man tries to better their acquaintance, but the girl gets offended when he pursues her, because her pride cannot take the way in which she forced herself on his acquaintance. Then the man's sister shows them both that they really love each other and it ends with a wedding.
A ridiculous story line and yet it was sweetly told. The girl had all the virtues under the sun from beauty, style to intelligence and is a very satisfying heroine; the man likewise. The most glaring issue in the story however, is 'propriety' and how different classes of society interpret it.
The lords and ladies are least concerned with it, while the less well born, like our heroine are obsessed with it. By contrast, we are introduced to the charming, simple Mr. Triggs who is a noveau riche. He too is unconcerned with class distinctions but tells his simple, sweet lovestory with wet eyes and is seen as a champion of true love.
Mr. Trigg's however is still a millionaire and can afford to be himself, but what about our heroine, Patricia? While reading the book, I felt irritated at how she would not grasp the happiness that was offered to her on the proverbial silver platter. This started me wondering. How important is propriety today, and what does it mean?
My answer is nothing! We have books like Patricia Brent, Spinster. If we went by the book, we would know life from the start. But if we factored in, our knowledge of what happens when one clings to the burdensome mantle of propriety as portrayed in the book; And include our cynical distrust in fairy tales, it all points to one thing: The Breaking Down of Convention. All possibilities has already been explored by the hundreds of writers of yore. Hence, the only thing left to do, is to recognize the story lines in our lives and add our own twists to them. A twist that we have not yet read about.
The next day she is forced to keep up the pretense and goes to the hotel. She thinks that she will have a quiet dinner alone. Lo and behold she finds the cats have come to spy on her. In a lightening flash, she goes up to a man and asks him to play up to her (The man obviously is a lord and the most eligible man in England) . They have such a good time together, that the inevitable happens, they fall in love. The man tries to better their acquaintance, but the girl gets offended when he pursues her, because her pride cannot take the way in which she forced herself on his acquaintance. Then the man's sister shows them both that they really love each other and it ends with a wedding.
A ridiculous story line and yet it was sweetly told. The girl had all the virtues under the sun from beauty, style to intelligence and is a very satisfying heroine; the man likewise. The most glaring issue in the story however, is 'propriety' and how different classes of society interpret it.
The lords and ladies are least concerned with it, while the less well born, like our heroine are obsessed with it. By contrast, we are introduced to the charming, simple Mr. Triggs who is a noveau riche. He too is unconcerned with class distinctions but tells his simple, sweet lovestory with wet eyes and is seen as a champion of true love.
Mr. Trigg's however is still a millionaire and can afford to be himself, but what about our heroine, Patricia? While reading the book, I felt irritated at how she would not grasp the happiness that was offered to her on the proverbial silver platter. This started me wondering. How important is propriety today, and what does it mean?
My answer is nothing! We have books like Patricia Brent, Spinster. If we went by the book, we would know life from the start. But if we factored in, our knowledge of what happens when one clings to the burdensome mantle of propriety as portrayed in the book; And include our cynical distrust in fairy tales, it all points to one thing: The Breaking Down of Convention. All possibilities has already been explored by the hundreds of writers of yore. Hence, the only thing left to do, is to recognize the story lines in our lives and add our own twists to them. A twist that we have not yet read about.
