Pepys

Hey everyone!

For those who don't know, Pepys was a 17th century upper class Englishman with a taste for classy wine, infidelity, and wife beating. Great guy right? I bet your thinking that he would never be accepted in today's society, but have we really grown past behavior life that?

“After that done, and gone and kissed the mother in bed – I away to Westminster-hall and there hear that Mrs. Lane is come to town. So I stayed loitering up and down, till anon she comes and agreed to meet at Swayns; and there I went anon and she came, but stayed but little, the place not being private. I have not seen her since before the plague. So thence parted, and rencontrai a her last logis (met her at her last lodgings), and in that place did hazer what I tena a mind para faire con her (did what I had a mind to do with her).”
(Tuesday, 20 February 1665)

The passage above was a quote from the subject's famous diary, and as you can see he very openly states that he had his way with a woman other than his wife. It's very easy to blindly believe that infidelity is wrong, but it happens all the time today. Tiger Woods for instance is a prime example of accepted infidelity. A few weeks of being the spotlight in the news, a few weeks of rehab, and bam. People simply stop caring. So how can we dismiss Pepys from modern society on those grounds? Marriage is hardly sacred anymore, seeing as the divorce rate for first marriages in America is over 40%.

Pepys cannot be defined solely by his infidelity, people. We must praise him for living in the moment, as this quote clearly shows.


The truth is, I do indulge myself a little the more in pleasure, knowing that this is the proper age of my life to do it; and, out of my observation that most men that do thrive in the world do forget to take pleasure during the time that they are getting their estate, but reserve that till they have got one, and then it is too late for them to enjoy it.  (Saturday 10 March 1665)

Pepys also was a true veteran of the theater, an affiliate of many higher-ups in English society, and fantastic at his occupation. So is it to far fetched to say that he'd fit into today's society? We glorify his lifestyle today, actually. Television programs like the Jersey Shore and countless others display drinking daily as something to strive for, and infidelity as something to feel bad about only momentarily. So all in all, i dare say that Pepy's, while he by no means would be a model citizen, would have very little issue fitting into todays society.


Works Cited-
Pepys, Samuel. "Tuesday 20 February 1665/66 (Pepys' Diary)." Pepys' Diary. Web. 26 Feb. 2011. <http://www.pepysdiary.com/archive/1666/02/20/>.
"Divorce Rate in America." Divorce Rate : Divorce Rate In America. Web. 26 Feb. 2011. <http://www.divorcerate.org/>.
Franklin, Nancy. "MTV's “Jersey Shore” Review." The New Yorker. 18 Jan. 2010. Web. 26 Feb. 2011. <http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/television/2010/01/18/100118crte_television_franklin>.