Post 7: Lovelives of the Rich and Famous
How's it going internet? Welcome to the Late Night English Blog! I'm your host and guy who starts lightsaber fights at Walmart Andy Ferguson and tonight we'll discussing something hysterically historical: the origins of Romance. Now I know what your thinking: whoa, that's a broad topic you got there buddy ole pal ole friend ole chum ole homeslice breadslice. And you're right. It's hella broad. But fear not kind sir, madame, or otherwise 'cause we're going to be looking at a specific question regarding the origins of amore. Why didn't I just say that earlier? No clue,the train of thought sometimes jumps the tracks. Anyhow, the specific question we'll be addressing is "Why did romantic love first develop in aristocratic courts with the upper class rather in the lower class?"
The answer probably won't shock you: they could afford it.
"What? That sounds like a cop out" Ahhh my dear friend Doubting Thomas (who I should have included in the archetype post in hindsight) how mistaken you are. Allow me to enlighten you with some help from the field of psychology. Specifically, the theories of Abraham Maslow (with pictures!)
Maslow put forth three main ideas:
1.) All humans are born with a set of needs listed in order of urgency. For example, things like hunger, procreation, and sleep have the highest priority whereas things like morality, creativity, and self-esteem are less urgent.
2.) All these needs are separated into different levels or sections and one cannot reach the next level without meeting all the needs of the level(s) preceding it. Ever played a video game where it wouldn't let you advance unless you collected all of something in the previous levels? Kinda like that.
3.) Self actualization- in Maslow's theory, this is it. the top of the pyramid. The creme de la creme. Once all of the needs in all the sections are met, an individual becomes "self-actualized" meaning they are capable of doing things greater than themselves. The best example I think of for this would be Bill Gates. He's rich, married, and from all current perspectives a pretty happy dude all around. Because all of his needs are basically met, the man now donates billions of dollars a year to various charities, helping various causes.
(For more information about Maslow's theory of hierarchy of needs and self actualization, check out this article from wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs)
(Image credit to Google Image search)
Now, let's put this into a historical perspective: way back in the days of feudal lords and ladies, kings and queens, and empires/ dynasties, the only people who really had all of their most basic needs met were the upper class aristocrats and what have you. The lower classes were typically stuck permanently on level 1, just barely scraping by for a meager existence. Depressing, I know. Back in those days, if you born an at least semi-noble birth, romantic love was out of the question. Life was too short to really worry if you were marrying "the one" (which is a rant for another time but I digress). You just had to lock down the person you hated the least and procreate to ensure continuation of the blood line. If you were rich, however, that's another story: you had options. You could flirt around a bit, take your time finding the person you loved. You could afford to have lovers and mistresses and what not.
If you remember our discussions in the past over "the Wife of Bath's Tale," you'll find the same kind of sentiment found there. the Wife of Bath, who was of the lower class, wasn't really all that romantic. She was in it for the sex and the power that comes from it. No real romance involved. Sure she like a couple of her 5 husbands, but that was more a happy coincidence than anything. the thing that was most important to her was having her basic needs met via sexual relationships.
Well that's all for today everybody. As always, thanks for reading and I will see you in the next post. See ya!
The answer probably won't shock you: they could afford it.
"What? That sounds like a cop out" Ahhh my dear friend Doubting Thomas (who I should have included in the archetype post in hindsight) how mistaken you are. Allow me to enlighten you with some help from the field of psychology. Specifically, the theories of Abraham Maslow (with pictures!)
Maslow put forth three main ideas:
1.) All humans are born with a set of needs listed in order of urgency. For example, things like hunger, procreation, and sleep have the highest priority whereas things like morality, creativity, and self-esteem are less urgent.
2.) All these needs are separated into different levels or sections and one cannot reach the next level without meeting all the needs of the level(s) preceding it. Ever played a video game where it wouldn't let you advance unless you collected all of something in the previous levels? Kinda like that.
3.) Self actualization- in Maslow's theory, this is it. the top of the pyramid. The creme de la creme. Once all of the needs in all the sections are met, an individual becomes "self-actualized" meaning they are capable of doing things greater than themselves. The best example I think of for this would be Bill Gates. He's rich, married, and from all current perspectives a pretty happy dude all around. Because all of his needs are basically met, the man now donates billions of dollars a year to various charities, helping various causes.
(For more information about Maslow's theory of hierarchy of needs and self actualization, check out this article from wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs)
(Image credit to Google Image search)
Now, let's put this into a historical perspective: way back in the days of feudal lords and ladies, kings and queens, and empires/ dynasties, the only people who really had all of their most basic needs met were the upper class aristocrats and what have you. The lower classes were typically stuck permanently on level 1, just barely scraping by for a meager existence. Depressing, I know. Back in those days, if you born an at least semi-noble birth, romantic love was out of the question. Life was too short to really worry if you were marrying "the one" (which is a rant for another time but I digress). You just had to lock down the person you hated the least and procreate to ensure continuation of the blood line. If you were rich, however, that's another story: you had options. You could flirt around a bit, take your time finding the person you loved. You could afford to have lovers and mistresses and what not.
If you remember our discussions in the past over "the Wife of Bath's Tale," you'll find the same kind of sentiment found there. the Wife of Bath, who was of the lower class, wasn't really all that romantic. She was in it for the sex and the power that comes from it. No real romance involved. Sure she like a couple of her 5 husbands, but that was more a happy coincidence than anything. the thing that was most important to her was having her basic needs met via sexual relationships.
Well that's all for today everybody. As always, thanks for reading and I will see you in the next post. See ya!
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