I don’t know about you, but I’m a sucker for studies.
Studies, as in “studies show.” Studies, as in science.
Studies, as in “something cool I read about, and hope that someone else has verified.”
The bad thing about studies is that, unless you have some sense of how to judge the research, they can be all-too comforting. Give me an hour–heck, with Google on my side, give me a quarter of a second–and I can find a study that claims to prove just about anything I want to believe.
Taken with a healthy grain of salt, though–wait! Can I find a study that says I shouldn’t worry so much about eating salt? That was a tough one: .33 seconds to find this piece from a few days ago– So, taken with a healthy grain of salt, “studies” provide me with conversation topics, endless entertainment, and plenty to think about.
The study that caught my attention this morning showed up on one of my favorite news sites, Science Daily. I’d started by clicking on one of the recent headlines: “Married With Children the Key to Happiness?” (Answer: maybe, but two other studies in the “related stories” column found that children “take a toll on marital bliss.”) The quirky, memorable headline, though, was the one about whether having a happy spouse or partner could make you happier, too.
“Research Says,” the story goes, “Your Happiness Makes Your Partner Happy – But Only If You Are Married.”
If you’re a sucker for studies, you can click over and read the actual piece. It’s short, and, as usual, it’s a bit less dramatic than the headline suggests. Still, it’s got me thinking–not at all scientifically–about one of the novels I taught for the first time this quarter, here at DePaul: Laura Kinsale’s Prince of Midnight.
As the novel ends, our hero and heroine, S.T. Maitland and Leigh Strachan, are trying to figure out what love means, or at least what their love means, and why S.T. should stay with Leigh, despite the flaws that he thinks forbid him to marry her.
“What can I give you in return?” he demands of her. “Give me your joy,” she responds. “Give me all your mad notions and your crazy heroics and your impossible romantical follies. And I’ll be your anchor. I’ll be your balance. I’ll be your family. I won’t let you fall.”
Studies have shown that this is one of the most moving betrothal scenes in all of romance. OK, maybe no one’s studied that. But the notion that one test of a couple is how they deal with differential happiness, spreading the wealth, rings deeply true to me.
Freud said that everything he knew about psychology, poets had figured out first. If only he’d read romance novels–or Science Daily–too!
No related posts.
I’m waiting for the study to show that reading a book and eating chocolate are good for your health. I’m sure there’s one out there somewhere.
Interesting. Personally I don’t go in search of studies. No time and I already spend far too much time on the ‘net. However, I love to read them in the local newspapers. Granted they’re no doubt skewed in the direction the newspaper leans, but they’re interesting nonetheless.
I love that scene. What did your students think of [i]Prince of Midnight[/i]?
All of them liked it, and some of them absolutely loved it! A lot of sympathy for S.T., and a lot of relief that they’d finally hit a hero who seemed utterly besotted with the heroine. I’ve got to say, I find the central scene in the book (the horse-training one) to be one of the finest moments in romance, right up there with the outside-the-church scene in Flowers from the Storm. Kinsale is so, so good–I can’t wait for the new one in January!
The horse-training scene packs so much into those transitional moments, I’m just in awe of Kinsale.
I love that S.T. is besotted but that in many ways that’s part of the problem. Not just that Leigh wants to stay away from all emotion but also how do you trust that a man who is frequently besotted has fallen in a different way this time.
I also really appreciate the reality of that betrothal scene because I feel like Leigh has the strength to reach out because she knows why S.T. needs her now and knowing you are needed is a safety net. So I love it because it’s so incredibly romantic but also because I believe that Leigh can take that last leap of faith because she’s finally secure.
I agree! Leigh often compares S.T., up through then, to a “troubadour,” and it’s a novel that brilliantly contrasts the power of that kind of love (passionate, self-transforming, but ultimately something that happens IN ME, not a relationship) to what this couple has by the end. I need to do a whole class on Kinsale someday.
- “Research Says,†the story goes, “Your Happiness Makes Your Partner Happy – But Only If You Are Married.†-
That must be the least scientific headline I read in a long while, but it’s comedic genious!
On and I totally agree, that scene is one of the most moving betrothal scenes. Well, at least a recent study of relevant betrothal scenes points in that direction.
I always remind my husband that studies show men who are married live longer, healthier lives than single men. Women who are married live shorter, less healthy lives than single women. I guess women really do give it all to their relationships.
I just had to go and read the dang article on salt!
I’m a study freak, too. Subscribe to the Real Age newsletter to get a helping of about six a week.