“ Some cynical Frenchman has said that there are two parties to a love-transaction: the one who loves and the other who condescends to be so treated. ”
William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair (1847). copy citation
| Author | William Makepeace Thackeray |
|---|---|
| Source | Vanity Fair |
| Topic | love relationship cynicism transaction |
| Date | 1847 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | Vanity Fair, Chapter XIII |
| Note | |
| Weblink | https://www.gutenberg.org/files/599/599-h/599-h.htm |
Context
“The observant reader, who has marked our young Lieutenant's previous behaviour, and has preserved our report of the brief conversation which he has just had with Captain Dobbin, has possibly come to certain conclusions regarding the character of Mr. Osborne. Some cynical Frenchman has said that there are two parties to a love-transaction: the one who loves and the other who condescends to be so treated. Perhaps the love is occasionally on the man's side; perhaps on the lady's. Perhaps some infatuated swain has ere this mistaken insensibility for modesty, dulness for maiden reserve, mere vacuity for sweet bashfulness, and a goose, in a word, for a swan.”
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Meaning and analysis
