Fitzjames O'Brien: The Wife Tempter

[Libra]

*scratching head* The power of religion?



http://www.underworldtales.com/classic/mywife.txt

 

[Peder]

Hmmm.

 

[Libra]

Did you read it?

 

[Peder]

Yes, actually I did. I thought the style was fascinating, possibly parodying all the tropes of a conventional romance story in a very skilled and readable manner. The seriolus theme was deliberately slower to emerge, and I am still somewhat puzzled how to put my finger on it, other than to say that it is a highly unusual sort of triangle.
But, overall, a very engaging sort of story.

 

[Libra]

I really liked it,it felt in the end he knew he could not fight it,his love was not enough for the grasp it had on her.

 

[Peder]

Yes, I think that is true. I was hoping for some kind of larger symmetry to explain the characters' actions. Perhaps it is that each character has a conception of love that also includes recognizing a "higher" obligation to one's beloved. The husand gives her up out of love for her. She gives up her husband for a higher love. And the tempter, out of care (love?) for her well-being, enlists her love on behalf of someone else instead of himself. Not quite smooth, but as clear as I can see it.
The Mormon angle, to me, seems not well thought out -- not fitting exactly with what little I have heard of Mormonism.

 

[Libra]

It could be with any type really,don't you think?I feel It's more the person.