The quest for dating advice is timeless, evidenced by an inquiry published in 1694 in The Athenian Mercury, where individuals sought guidance on love. The periodical's response acknowledged the complexities of romance, suggesting a careful approach to expressing feelings. Historian Mary Beth Norton's book, 'I Humbly Beg Your Speedy Answer,' highlights similar dilemmas faced by people in both historical and contemporary contexts, from unrequited love to navigating relationships. This reflects a consistent human experience marked by uncertainty in matters of the heart.
Not long after my partner and I exchanged our first 'I love you's, I made an embarrassing confession. I had Googled how long one should wait before declaring their love.
In 1694, a lovelorn inquirer wrote to The Athenian Mercury... with a question not unlike mine: 'A lady who is in love desires to know how she may decently convince the other person of her passion?'
The Athenian Mercury ran for six years... and received thousands of inquiries, many of them attempts at sussing out the tacit rules of dating and romance.
As the historian Mary Beth Norton writes... many questioners invoked dilemmas that still vex people today: how to manage unrequited affections; how to extract oneself from a regrettable entanglement.
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