Part C · Broad Questions — Of Love

Bacon's personal view begins with a practical outlook. He asks one question about every subject. Is it useful to a man? Bacon was a lawyer, a judge and a statesman. He worked in busy courts and dealt with kings. So he judged love and marriage by their effect on work and success. He did not judge them by feeling or by religion. This is why his tone is calm and cool. He speaks like an adviser, not like a poet. Both essays follow the same method. They give reasons first and then a rule. This practical mind is the base of all his opinions.

In Of Love, Bacon treats love as a weakness. He says great men do not give themselves to it. He writes:

Great spirits and great business do keep out this weak passion.

He means strong minds are too busy for love. He gives the example of Mark Antony, a great Roman who was ruined by love. Bacon says love makes a man foolish and blind. He also says a lover thinks too highly of the one he loves. So he does not praise love as a noble feeling. He sees it as a danger to a man's judgement. This shows his personal fear of strong feeling. He prefers a mind that stays in control.

Bacon also compares love in plays and love in real life. He says:

The stage is more beholding to love than the life of man.

He means love gives good stories to the theatre. On the stage it gives comedy and sometimes tragedy. But in real life it brings trouble. He says it works like a mischief, sometimes like a siren and sometimes like a fury. A siren is a sweet voice that leads men to ruin. A fury is a wild, angry spirit. These pictures show his dry humour. He enjoys love as a subject for art. He does not want it to rule a man's life. This is his clear personal line.

Bacon does not reject all love. He divides love into three kinds. He writes:

Nuptial love maketh mankind; friendly love perfecteth it; but wanton love corrupteth and embaseth it.

Married love, he says, continues the human race. Friendly love improves a man. Wanton love, or foolish passion, spoils him. So he accepts good love and rejects bad love. He also says love must keep its place and must not disturb serious business. This shows a moral side behind his cool mind. He wants love to be limited and well used. He does not wish to kill it.

In Of Marriage and Single Life, Bacon shows the same practical view. He sees a family as a burden for an active man. He says:

He that hath wife and children hath given hostages to fortune; for they are impediments to great enterprises, either of virtue or mischief.

A hostage is a person held by another as a guarantee. Bacon means a man with a family cannot take risks. He fears loss, so he becomes careful. Such a man may not dare to do great deeds, good or bad. Here marriage is judged by its cost to ambition. This is a very personal and worldly opinion. Bacon himself married late and had no children.

Bacon also praises the unmarried man for public service. He writes:

Certainly the best works, and of greatest merit for the public, have proceeded from the unmarried or childless men.

He thinks single men are free from family care. So they can give all their mind to the nation. He adds that single men make the best friends, masters and servants. But he says they are not always the best subjects, because they can run away easily. Here we feel his wish for a free and active life. He admires men who serve society without family ties. Still, he keeps a sharp eye on their faults.

Yet Bacon is not one-sided. He also sees the good side of marriage. He says wife and children teach a man to be kind and human. He gives this famous line:

Wives are young men's mistresses, companions for middle age, and old men's nurses.

This means a wife serves a man's needs at every stage of life. The line is witty and a little cold. It is true to life, but it treats the wife as a helper. Even so, Bacon does not hate marriage. He weighs gains and losses like a careful judge. He then leaves the choice to the reader. This balance makes his view fair and honest.

Bacon's personal view is also seen in his style. He writes short and firm sentences. Each sentence is like a rule, called an aphorism. An aphorism is a short wise saying. He avoids tears and passion. His tone is that of a cool observer. Even on love, he does not write warmly. He gives very few personal details. We learn his mind through his judgements. He also uses quiet humour, as in his words about the stage. This calm tone matches his belief that feeling must be ruled by reason. So his style and his opinion agree with each other.