11/10 - Almost the Highest Marks

Astute readers will not need a hint to guess which LW almost gets a seal of high approval this week.

L1:  First things first. How could LW1 possibly have been curious enough to investigate the emails from the unknown source (and which of us truly knows ALL his or her siblings' email accounts? That is a weird assumption in and of itself.) and find what would appear to be evidence of a half-sister but not curious enough to follow up on the discovery with the other parties involved? Does she truly believe with all her heart that D1 will just yield at the first question and  tell her the complete truth? As Brett Somers would say, Good Gravy Marie!

While it might not be irrational to assume that a period of some marital lack of harmony might have had something to do with the conception of an extramarital child, what other evidence is there to support LW1's apparent leap to the conclusion that her assumption of a happy marriage must be voided in entirety? As for M1, how far can LW1's judgment be trusted? It certainly appears as if she has a skewed idea or two there. It might be possible that the whole situation is arranged for M1's benefit, or that M1 has come to terms with what is in some way or other. As far as LW1's faith in marriage and relationships, it's just as well that this is all exploded before the wedding rather than after, as that sort of faith would be. It seems that there are certain tests that must be run, and somebody will have to make them happen, but it would have been most useful had LW1 followed through with the Other Family.

A couple of quickies for the Prudecutor. "surely you long ago realized that is a perilous position and you don’t want to be that kind of wife." Really? Where on earth does the Prudecutor get that idea? It certainly appears that LW1 had every intention of replicating the marriage that she thought was so happy, with the possible exception of financial dependence, but that might well be more along the line of wistfully wishing for the June Cleaver life as something outside of C1's financial grasp. And the Prudecutor takes a long time to mention the fiance, saving him for the last sentence and making a cryptic remark which one might interpret as doubt about his utility in the affair. I'd have grilled LW1 rather more about how F1 has taken the revelation and supported her thus far. There might be some sort of indication there, though I suspect LW1 has kept it all swept under the rug.

L3:   LW3 needs to watch Shirley Valentine. That was, after all, what set everything in motion. Shirley's neighbour Gillian, about to travel to Brussels, asked Shirley to feed her bloodhound the one time Gillian's mother couldn't. Stopping off before bringing her shopping home, Shirley sympathized with poor Claymore when he didn't touch his muesli. And there was her husband's steak in her shopping bag. Claymore got a treat, Shirley broke the Eleventh Commandment by not giving her fella steak on a Thursday, Joe refused to eat chips and egg, and Shirley got up the nerve to decide to accompany Jane to Greece.

How LW3 and R3 get along, how LW3 wants to get along, what LW3's attitude is both on the surface and a bit deeper about the dog; these all affect what LW3 might offer in the line of accommodation. How much or how little LW3 is willing to do is what it is. It may seem slightly unreasonable to move in to a place with a dog owner and expect never to lift a finger, but R3 can't really expect anything beyond common courtesy. What R3 expects and whatr LW3 reads into the situation may be interesting to reconcile.

L4:  What is it with all these waiting-until-marriage virgins lately? There's been a much better debate flowing lately in Savage Love. And why must all these virtuous waiters be so disingenuous? But the solution is simple. Get F4 way too drunk to perform until C4 is safely installed post-honeymoon in their new home. Besides, who on earth wants the First Marital Time to be in some hotel? If C4 really are both virgins, would it not have far more meaning for them to have their first time in their own bed in their own bedroom in their own home?

L2:  Now LW2 has chosen for her charges the interesting aliases of Elizabeth and Emma. Astute readers do not require a prize for guessing which Author of High Repute LW2 has been reading of late. However, I must dock LW2 slightly for a discrepancy in her choice of characters.

Elizabeth Bennet is a fine choice. We see many examples of how her parents elect to conduct their marital felicity. They are the closest of all Austenian couples to the example set by MC2. But Emma Woodhouse, whose mother (whose marital relations were vastly different from those with which we are presented in L2) we never see, and who is above all devoted to her father? That would be the difficulty of selecting Jane and Elizabeth for the daughters' aliases, as Elizabeth Bennet is also sincerely attached to her father. Perhaps Kitty and Lydia might have been better choices.

As for what LW2 ought to do, I suspect that the clever solution would be to drop a subtle hint in the ear of the D2s about how LW2 herself had told someone in authority all about her own troubles at home at their age and it solved all her problems. The D2s won't know if it's someone who will be required to have a word in the shell-like of an experienced Social Worker.

Moral:  "Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance. If the dispositions of the parties are ever so well known to each other or ever so similar beforehand, it does not advance their felicity in the least. They always continue to grow sufficiently unlike afterwards to have their share of vexation; and it is better to know as little as possible of the defects of the person with whom you are to pass your life."