The media won't get tired of having a field day on Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, prompting Carol to predict that Jolie's directorial career would be gone for good. I was about to ask my cousin if she wrote about gossip and popular culture when she wondered if the "Maleficent" Star knew enough fiction. I knew where she was heading, as many novels featured long marriages. I wasn't referring to the Weasleys and Malfoys, not even the complicated relationship between Zeus and Hera.
D. H. Lawrence bared his thoughts about his family and their working-class background, and how the Industrial Revolution influenced his views on relationship. The events in "The Rainbow" spanned three decades, where the characters would have a change of feelings during the course of time. No one could articulate it, whether there was distance or not, which didn't surprise me at all.
Authors might be the only ones who could do such a thing, as mastering the language would be part of their craft. I wouldn't imagine myself in their esteemed company, yet. (I would need to expand my vocabulary, while I have yet to learn to love writing.) On the other hand, John Updike's saga (on the quest for freedom and sex) would allude to American history. In this regard, I suspected Winston Groom of using it as his template for "Forrest Gump." It was an amusing recollection of a remarkably honest man. (No one would ever claim to be an idiot.) Although Groom chose relationship over marriage, it was pretty clear that "Forrest Gump" highlighted the breakdown of customs. Would values fit in a democratic society? Of course. And then sadness swept over me. Superficiality seemed to be the norm if social media could be the indication. Carol didn't notice it, as she pondered about the chances of Brad Pitt's next film at the box office.
Lizzie wouldn't like it if I left her out
I asked my tutor about long marriages in literature, and this one surprised her. I was embarrassed, as Victorian fiction seemed like a distant memory. I should've recalled the Bennets, even the other couples who must follow the unwritten rule (in English society). In this case, it was a matter of necessity. It led me to the works of E. M. Forster, where class and relationship would be linked forever. It seemed like a disheartening thought, even a cruel gesture. Women don't have many options, even if they come from a privileged background. And it wouldn't be much different in other societies. I was thinking of "Heat and Dust" at the moment.
I remembered the screwball comedies, which I studied last year, where a couple would be on the verge of being uncoupled by petty matters. And how a Hollywood romantic comedy espoused the tender trap. Not that authors wouldn't favor a domestic life, but they would need space now and then. They could seek freedom elsewhere. The routine would be the inevitable, and they wouldn't have enough patience to observe the household for a few decades or so.
