La Serena School 1st Medium, Spanish Language August 27, 2019

A romantic traveler
Lorenzo Baldessari Bortolotti

We can often hear that every past time was always better: experiences, aromas, food and
ways of life... The ways of expressing love have also changed, that is why on this occasion I
would like to reflect on the change that is taking place in the world in the ways of
understanding and expressing romantic love.

First of all, I would like to highlight the first two definitions of the concept of love given by
the RAE:

Intense feeling of the human being who, starting from his own insufficiency, needs and
seeks the encounter and union with another being.

2.Feeling towards another person that naturally attracts us and that, seeking reciprocity in
the desire for union, completes us, makes us happy and gives us the energy to live
together, communicate and create.desire for union, completes us, makes us happy and
gives us the energy to live together, communicate and create.

This feeling, so important for the realization of each person, needs certain ways to manifest
itself, which depend on culture and time. This is what romanticism is for me: being
"romantic" is how a person expresses their feelings to conquer, to please that other special
person through actions that show their feelings.
The film Pride and Prejudice (based on the novel of the same name), takes us to the end of
the eighteenth century and the countryside outside London, to tell the story of the love story
between Mr. W. and Mr. B. and his wife. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet, and also the stories of
her other sisters (Jane, Mary, Catherine and Lydia) and how some of them got married.
The expressions of love that I could appreciate in the film are those that we consider to be
traditionally "romantic", for example, when Mr. B. B. is in the movie, and when Mr. B. is in
the movie, and Mr. B. is in the movie. Darcy held Elizabeth's hand to get her into the
carriage, when they danced together, when he paid some debts to solve some problems in
Elizabeth's family, when he goes to look for her in a distant place outside her house just to
talk to her (twice) and confess his feelings, the letter that hewrites to her to justify his
actions, when he travels from so far away just to see her for a moment, when they both lean
their foreheads on each other's once Elizabeth accepts that she loves him, and finally, the
amorous nicknames and the final kiss they give each other.
It is important to note that the methods of conquering someone and finding a partner were
very conventional, closely guarded by one's family and made them unnatural, in my opinion.
Dances were considered an important occasion to meet people and approach them to request
a dance (always with the presence and permission of the parents or a relative -including
La Serena School 1st Medium, Spanish Language August 27, 2019

brothers or sisters-). Always keeping in mind the socio-economic background of the other
family, how important it is to rise in status (or maintain it), the importance of "what others
will say" and securing your future through a marriage agreement.
Nowadays things have changed, although men can have several of these attitudes that we
normally call romantic and can be detail-oriented with their partners, many women now
consider that most of these expressions are already active and macho. Paying the bill,
opening the door, giving flowers, even giving a gift for no reason, are attitudes that now
cannot be done without knowing the other person well, because it could offend him/her. For
example, and comparing to the movie, Elizabeth's mom agreeing to her marriage to her
cousin Collins is unacceptable in this day and age; relatives listening in on all the important
conversations behind the door is also wrong, since love issues are now much more personal
and private. The idea that love comes with time, after marriage, seems absurd to me: how is
it possible to force such an intense feeling to arise by compulsion? The film shows the
sadness of most of the women, since love never came for them as the years went by, as they
had been told.
All of the above is mainly due to the fact that love was considered a socioeconomic
arrangement, a business, and so men who had their future agreed upon did not need to be
romantic, because there was no need for it. If, on the contrary, they needed to improve their
status through marriage, they would make an effort and use all the resources at their disposal
to be romantic and conquer the girl: even if deep down they did not love her and everything
was false. Surely, once married, these men will change their attitude, since they are already
"insured": in the film this happens with Lydia, Elizabeth's younger sister who is conquered
by Private Wickham, who asks her to run away together and after a family agreement
financially favorable to him, they get married. Lydia, not yet 15, was too young to realize
this and was blinded by love for Wickham. Unfortunately in the film we don't know what
happened to that marriage, however, as I noted earlier, it is likely that Lydia discovers her
husband's change of heart, even if it takes years.

Finally, I believe that the details are important, that these romantic traditions should not be
lost, however, we have to consider all the changes that different societies have gone through
in all these centuries and, the controversial issue of gender equity, leads me to conclude that
the best thing would be that these expressions are mutual: both men and women need to
express their affection in the way they consider appropriate. But it is important not to lose
the romanticism, not to lose neither the concern nor the interest for details: it is not minor,
since this helps to keep the love relationship (whether it is a relationship or marriage) alive
through the years.