/lit/ - Literature

>English 62 - European Literature II

>Assigned reading was Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilyich

>Professor directs discussion to propriety and the view of marriage and single people in society, in their “older years”

>Class consists of 6 men, and 4 times as many women.

>90% of the women vehemently describe how they view someone who isn’t married by a certain age as ‘strange’, how everyone does, and how that is just the way society is and is the proper way.

>Oprah is brought up, I count 5 women who voice disgust for her deciding to stay single. “She of all people should get married!” “What is she going to do with all that money once she’s gone, pass it on to her dogs?” “Humans need to reproduce!”

>I am laughing inside, wistfully.

>Topic changes to reasons for marriage and love.

>Money, status, reproduction, in order of importance, are reasons for marriage as the women voice it. Love is mentioned as an afterthought at the end. “Yea, love is nice...”

>Discussion turns to debate.

>I am crying and slowly dieing inside. Professor is going @_@ at the women, 2 guys are trying to argue against 20 female voices – citing love, 1 male is asleep (later wakes up and asks me what all the hullabaloo is about), 2 guys are trying their best to keep out of the debate, and how the opinion difference is cleanly split between the genders dawns on me.

>I voice my observations of the class, giving a small speech covering the microcosm of our class, gold-digging, the conditioning of our daughters, and go back to Tolstoy as an example. Somehow manage to hold class quiet for the duration of my small tirade.

>Looks that would kill, if they could.

>Class explodes

>Class ends, one guy announces his decision to stay single indefinitely.

>I am dogged all the way to the subway.

My my, lives of quiet desperation indeed.