“There is only one way to console a widow. But remember the risk.”
(from “The notebooks of Lazarus Long” by Heinlein in case anyone is wondering)
I assume the “one way” is to sleep with her. But what is the risk? Obviously bedding down with anyone entails certain risks, but was he implying that widows were riskier than most?
I can’t say for sure what he means, but my experience in reading old-timey books is that there is a stereotype that marriage-hungry widows are always trying to “trap” a man into marriage.
It’s been a very long time, but I believe that was in the context of the number of wives he had outlived. The danger was he’d have to do it again.
My thoughts:
When the comment was written, birth control was not as well practiced as it is now, I think. If she got pregnant too soon after her husband’s death, it might eventually be pretty obvious that it wasn’t by her husband, so that could lead to awkward doubts by family, friends and neighbors of just when did she get pregnant.
And especially by earlier social custom, there could also be the disapproval that pregnant or not, she doesn’t look like she’s grieving enough.
And there are the other awkward emotional misunderstandings that might occur, like her mistaking intended short-term comfort with another shot at the longer-term commitment she had hoped to have with her deceased husband.
Thanks for the replies, gang. They all make sense. My own random opinion was that maybe he meant, hey, she killed one husband. What’s to say she might not kill you, too? But that seemed mighty cynical, even for Heinlein.
No, actually, that sounds about right.