February Response (2-1) -- Of Marriage and Single Life

To marry, or not to marry. That's the question.

Article: Essay of Marriage and Single life.
By Sir Francis Bacon.

Central argument: Being married causes a burden in life and deteriorates opportunity like getting rich and achieving merits in life. In other words, being single has a lot more advantages than being married, but this doesn’t mean having a married life is bad; it can have its perks.

                Sir Frances Bacon, in his opinion essay towards marriage and single life, he chooses to stick towards the side of the bachelors and bachelorettes.  In an argument regarding which sort of life is easier and better, I would choose to disagree with the author. The author explains how being married and having children is only a stump in the road and you won’t go places in life if you were to choose this decision. Sir Bacon argues that having a wife and children is the reason man cannot get rich or achieve merit in life, or become popular, whereas single life can offer all the above in addition with freedom. I chose to disagree with Bacon because a family can offer a lot of positive aspects along with the drawbacks; there are certain feelings and pieces of the puzzle that only a family can complete.

                Having no one in your life full-time makes it a lot lonelier when compared to waking up and seeing your wife and children’s smile every morning. The feeling you get from family is something that wealth and popularity cannot get for you. Although both married and single people contribute to society in their own ways, I would choose a married life over being a single businessman who has to look after everything by himself.

                When I was young – and even these days, as a matter of fact – my parents would always debate jokingly whether I should get a beautiful wife and settle down peacefully or spend no time with family matters and grow to become a successful person in life. My parents told me that you can generally choose one or the other. If you choose to sacrifice wealth for family, then so it shall be. As my mom would argue that I should make the decision to avoid marriage, and complete my education without being distracted, my dad’s contradicting ideas were very tempting. My parents being married for 18 years now, it fills me with content and gives me hope that I could possibly do the same.

                  Bacon argues that taking charge of children isn’t an easy task and does require sacrifice. Although he may state that single people are more generous and charitable than married people, he goes out of his way to agree that married people take a lot more precautions when it comes to their family. To future prove that Bacon may not have a biased opinion on this matter, he says that married people have a lot more discipline and can be reliable in times of need than when compared to single people. 

                Sir Francis Bacon, who chooses to support single men rather than married, uses realistic and logical examples. Being a writer in the developing era, it is highly likely that he might have noticed a trend among the rich, moderate and poor. People that were rich and had obtained high positions in companies would have highly likely been single if they were to have earned that position with their sweat and hard work. Although he makes a point that wealth is necessary in life, he chooses not to address the fact that “money cannot buy you happiness.”