Entry for May 20, 2007 ~ Elizabethan Manners...

I was just thinking ~ remember when people had real manners? When a gentleman asked permission to 'court' a young lady? When he asked to be presented to her? When a person's honor was at stake and it took whatever they had to preserve it? And it was worth it?
I have been watching the A&E version of 'Pride & Prejudice', starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle.
And it strikes me, as I watch, that people just don't behave this way anymore.
Letters were hand-written, another lost art. Even in polite conversation, if there was a disagreement or any negative connotation given, it was done with the utmost attention to correct English, no four-letter words, no loss of decorum.
I realize the characters in this story are mostly from wealthy families, with the best education, all the 'culture' money could buy...and completely proper in their behavior, speech and character.
But nowadays, people just don't behave this way! We are always rushing, always concerned with our own lives and our day-to-day 'carryings on' and never mind what anyone else has to say or do...
On TV it is ok to swear and commit all kinds of atrocities! Violence like never before, four-letter words, including taking God's Name in vain. And if anyone protests, it is all done under the protection of the Constitution ~ as if that was what it was written for! Premarital sex is rampant; back then it was highly shocking and disapproved of in every circle. Now? O well...*yawn*...
Yes, I admit, I do wish life was the way it was back then. I wish families raised their children to respect their elders. I wish manners were more observed. I wish parents were 'desperate' to protect their sons and daughters from any whisper of scandal.
It would be great, wouldn't it, if education and culture ruled the way it did back then? It would be nice to just take a day to walk in the woods, like Elizabeth Bennett, if there were more woods and gardens like they had then. It would also be nice to hear people talk and see people act like they did in those days.
That would really be nice...