Sir Richard Steele (1672-1729) was an Anglo-Irish author, playwright, and politician. He is best known for starting the magazine The Spectator with his friend Joseph Addison. He wrote ‘His Account of His Disappointment in Love’ where he discusses the reasons for Sir Roger’s disappointment in love. So, in the following content, we are going to discuss his account of his disappointment in love summary.
The Summary of His Account of His Disappointment in Love
The first part of the summary
In one of the essays, “His Account of His Disappointment in Love,” he talks about how he met the widow for the first time. He was 23 years old, young, and proud of the good-looking way he looked. As a country magistrate, he first saw the widow in the court where he was the judge. The court case was about the widow’s inheritance. The widow had a lot of fans, and Sir Roger became one of them as soon as she looked at him. She stole his heart, and he and Sir Roger fell in love with her.
After falling in love with the widow at court, Sir Roger felt better when he heard that the widow thought Sir Roger was “the gentlest and kindest of all the brutes in the country.” He decided to go see her. He had new clothes made for his servants and sent his coach horses to town to learn how to trot properly. Then he went to see the widow. But when Sir Roger saw her, he was so scared that he just sat there and didn’t say a word. When the widow saw how embarrassed the knight was, she started talking about love, honor, and the true and false people who follow these ideas.
Sir Roger was even more amazed by what he saw. The situation didn’t get better when the lady’s “confident” said that Sir Roger’s silence meant that his answer when it came, would cover everything about the subject. Sir Roger left after a half-hour of silence, during which he didn’t say anything because he didn’t know what to say.
The second part of the summary of His Disappointment in Love
After going to the widow’s house and having a bad time, Sir Roger saw the widow often. Even when they met by chance, the widow always talked to Sir Roger in long, complicated ways that left him completely confused and awed. Even though he thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world, he thought the widow was mean and cruel. He knew she had been rude to everyone who liked her, but he couldn’t help loving her. He had carved her name into the trees of one of the avenues on his estate to get away from his overwhelming and hopeless love for her.
However, this made him even sadder because every time he saw the avenue, he thought of her. In the essays His Account of His Disappointment in Love and Sir Roger’s Reflections on the Widow, we read about the love affair. Sir Roger was smart enough to realize that his broken heart had left him with scars that would never go away. It was a big letdown that he would never get over completely. He thought that the disappointment in love had made him talk and think a little less carefully.
It made people act and talk in ways that didn’t make sense, which made people laugh. He had a slightly off-balance mind, so he would often say something silly or completely unrelated in the middle of a serious conversation.
The third part of the summary
But the relationship had also helped him in some ways. It had taught him to be kinder, more patient, and less harsh with people, even the ones he didn’t like. But the experience changed him forever. Whenever he thought about the widow, he felt like he was young again. He had often hoped that the widow would have trouble so that he could help her.
Soon after, though, he realized that he didn’t want this to happen because he didn’t want her to feel like she owed him anything. This shows how Sir Roger has always been kind and helpful. Sir Roger says that if the widow hadn’t been so sure of herself, she might have learned to love him back.
This woman was cruel enough to get the widow to turn against Sir Roger. Sir Roger’s thoughts on confidants show that he is both smart and bitter. The confidants keep their mistresses from getting married by telling them the rules about men and marriage that the mistresses themselves had made up.
The confident gains a lot of power and control over the mistress’s mind, which he or she uses cruelly. Sir Roger is sure that the widow’s friend was the cause of his love disappointment. These essays about Sir Roger’s affair of the heart show how good Steele is at making people interested.
The final part of the summary
Even though we never actually “meet” the widow in the essays, Sir Roger’s words paint a clear picture of her. Even though she is not shown directly, she becomes a real person. She is smart and also very pretty. She can hold her own in debates and talks because she knows a lot and has read a lot.
But she is a strange person who enjoys being loved by many people but doesn’t love any of them back. She was beautiful and had a sense of dignity that kept her admirers at a distance. His crush had a sweet voice, and she could sing very well. She gets men excited, but she never says anything to cheer them up or make them feel more attracted to her.
The widow was very smart and had unusual interests, like learning about bees. She knew all the tricks of coquetry and used them well, but never let on how she really felt. She was always with her best friend, to whom she told all her secret thoughts about men in general.
The widow seems to be a beautiful and smart woman, but not one with a soft heart. However, there is a lot of irony and banter in the way Sir Roger’s love story is told. However, we never stop liking this knight. He is too kind to want the woman he loves to feel like she owes him something.
That’s the end of our content his account of his disappointment in love summary. We hope you have enjoyed it. If you want to read more content of Richard Steele and Johshep Addison, you can read the following articles:
– Sir Roger at Church Summary
– Spectators Account on Himself
– Death of Sir Roger
