Love Is Timeless

So today we're featuring Dry As Toast's very first guest blogger, Heidi! I invite any of you that have something to share with the rest of us to just let me know. I'd love to hear what you have to say :)

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So, I’ve been reading Jane Austen lately. No, it’s not for school, I’ve been reading it for pleasure; because I love, love, love her and because I think that she was a fantastic writer.

So far I've read Persuasion which was fantastic and I am re-reading Pride and Prejudice. And I noticed something: no matter how much we think things have changed, love is love. Whether we talk about love 200 years ago in Jane Austen’s time or whether we talk about love now in 2008.

I’ll discuss this in terms of men loving women, even though it applies the other way around as well.

When a man loves a woman, he feels lucky to have her. He might be better educated, have more money, and have a better job but at the end of the day he feels like he hit the jackpot when he met her because she brings so much to the table in his eyes. When Mr. Darcy first proposed to Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice, he mentioned that he loved her against his better judgment because they were not part of the same social class. And she turned him down. Yup, she turned down the millionaire and I applaud her. He wouldn’t have been grateful enough if she had said yes. He did a much better job the second time he proposed.

When a man loves a woman he turns into a man of action, not a man of words. When Elizabeth’s sister Lidia ran away with Mr. Wickham, Mr. Darcy saw how distressed Elizabeth was. He didn’t promise her he would help; he got out of his chair and did it. He didn’t even want her to find out that he had been the one who remedied the situation, he did it all because he loved her and wanted to ease her mind. No promises were made; he didn’t ask if she wanted help, he just did what he knew he had to do.

And finally, when a man loves a woman he’s willing to forgive her if she has a lapse in judgment. So in Persuasion Anne Elliot backed out on her engagement with Captain Wentworth because a close family friend believed he wasn't a good match for her. Even though Captain Wentworth was a great guy, poor (which was considered a bad thing back in the day) but a good guy, Anne loved him and lived with the regret of letting him go for years. And even though Captain Wentworth was heartbroken when she turned him down the first time he was man enough to recognize that Anne was worth a second chance. So he asked for her hand in marriage again because even the best of us make mistakes.

Yes, I know. I’m a romantic at heart and some people might say I expect too much out of men and love. But at the end of the day all I really expect out of a partner is love. And if that’s too much to ask for, I prefer to have nothing at all. ~Heidi