I have prayed hourly for you, my dear friend.
To see you alive is like seeing the face of God.
-Brangienne to Dinadan
Most authors marry off their intelligent females and males:
Beatrice and Benedick, Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy.
Even unintelligent couples marry:
Cosette and Marius, Cinderella and Prince Charming.
The thrill of the chase, the eventual acquiescence:
There’s a reason comedies end with a wedding.
So it comes as a surprise when intelligent Sir Dinadan
Proposes to equally intelligent Lady-in-Waiting Brangienne
And she turns him down. She goes to a convent.
He travels the world as a minstrel. They are happy.
When couples marry, there is little to say about the rest of life.
Who wants to read the minutia of stitches and dishes,
Struggling to pay the bills and occasional arguments?
We all know happily ever after is a euphemism for maintenance.
We see Dinadan and Brangienne a few more times.
He visits her. As friends, they talk for hours.
Who’s to say the author made a poor choice?
Perhaps the true comedy comes when the girl says no
And they all live happily ever after.
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