A caveat from Mary Wollstonecraft:
(her
daughter didn't listen either)
....Men of
wit and
fancy are often rakes; and fancy is the food
of love. Such men will inspire passion. Half
the sex, in its present infantile state, would
pine for a Lovelace; a man so witty, so graceful,
and so valiant: and can they deserve blame for
acting according to principles so constantly
inculcated? They want a lover, and protector;
and, behold him kneeling before them—bravery
prostrate to beauty! The virtues of a husband
are thus thrown by love into the back ground,
and gay hopes, or lively emotions, banish reflection
till the day of reckoning comes; and come it
surely will, to turn the sprightly lover into
a surly suspicious tyrant, who contemptuously
insults the very weakness he fostered. Or, supposing
the rake reformed, he cannot quickly get rid
of old habits. When a man of abilities is first
carried away by his passions, it is necessary
that sentiment and taste varnish the enormities
of vice, and give a zest to brutal indulgences;
but when the gloss of novelty is worn off, and
pleasure palls upon the sense, lasciviousness
becomes barefaced, and enjoyment only the desperate
effort of weakness flying from reflection as
from a legion of devils. Oh! virtue thou art
not an empty name! All that life can give—thou
givest!
If much comfort
cannot be expected from the friendship of
a reformed rake of superiour abilities,
what is the consequence when he lacketh
sense, as well as principles? Verily
misery, in its most hideous shape. When
the habits of weak people are consolidated
by time, a reformation is barely possible;
and actually makes the beings miserable
who have not sufficient mind to be amused
by innocent pleasure; like the tradesman
who retires from the hurry of business,
nature presents to them only a universal
blank; and the restless thoughts prey on
the damped spirits. Their reformation, as
well as his retirement, actually makes
them wretched because it deprives them of
all employment, by quenching the hopes and
fears that set in motion their sluggish
minds.
If such is the
force of habit; if such is the bondage of
folly, how carefully ought we to guard the
mind from storing up vicious associations;
and equally careful should we be to
cultivate the understanding, to save the
poor wight from the weak dependent state
of even harmless ignorance. For it is the
right use of reason alone which makes us
independent of every thing—excepting the
unclouded Reason—'whose service is perfect
freedom.'
~from
MARY
WOLLSTONECRAFT, A VINDICATION OF
THE RIGHTS OF WOMAN
1792
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