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| Cruikshank, Duel |
In Gentlemen’s Blood, author Barbara Holland says,
“There was much to like about the duel. It was a regulated way for one man to prevail over another when he felt the need to do so, and an improvement over the informal ambush, or sending out henchmen to break the enemy’s skull by night on the highway.”
In Samuel Johnson’s opinion dueling was “more justifiable than war in which thousands go forth without any personal quarrel.”
Our readers will hold varying opinions on the subject. Please feel free to explore the topic in the comments—that, or duels you’d have put in your Top 10 list, or maybe other movies with excellent dueling scenes?
Image: Cruikshank, The Point of Honor decided, or the Leaden argument of a Love affaire, from The English Spy, 1825
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4 comments:
The Greatest duel in history is that of David v Goliath.
That is the only duel I can think of, at present that wasn't fought out of some sense of pride.
Some of the "duels" mentioned in the video were more outright murder.
Though I think most duels stupid( except those like D v G where they were enacting a miniature battle in a war), they at least had a semblance of romanticism when fought with swords.
The basis of most duels was the superstition that God or fate would allow the one in the right to win. One would think that the experience of having innumerable injured husbands and fathers die while the destroyer of their domestic peace lived on to seduce other wives or daughters would have cured them of this superstition.
"One would think that the experience of having innumerable injured husbands and fathers die while the destroyer of their domestic peace lived on to seduce other wives or daughters would have cured them of this superstition."
Doesn't seem to have cured us of the idea that declaring war on a country will solve our problems with it... so it's clear that human beings always cling to their superstitions and mythologies.
"One would think..." we're talkin men here.
Women are as liable to believe things that experience has proven not to hold true. One , is that a rake makes the best husband and the other is that marriage will settle a man who has a reputation as a rake and a wastrel.
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