Married or Single?

Sir Francis Bacon believes that marriage and being single weigh each other out in a person's life with both their values and virtues, and the outcomes are mostly dependent on the individual person. In this essay he discusses the behaviours of people who are married and those who are single towards society, as well as towards other individuals. It is true that the married and single values weigh each other out. It is clearly seen by his switching between positive and negative remarks to both sides.

He begins by talking about the contributions that married and single people give to society. He states that the “best works” have been given by “unmarried or childless men.” His reasoning for this is that children and wives make a man more conscious about his actions and thoughts. They make him too cautious about his dealings. He then immediately brings up his counterpoint that supports the idea of married people being important because the care they inherit when they get married or have children is transferred to the thoughts and ideas about the future.

He then commences to speak about how the single can be too selfish to lend a hand to society. He believes some peoples' “thoughts do end with themselves” instead of going on for the general good. These points show that the ideas of the contributions to society are weighed out because someone will provide to do good for society whether they are single or married. The contribution depends on the individual with their marital status as a background.

The discussion about charitable habits arises in the middle of the passage. Bacon points out that the ones who are single are more likely to be the ones to give than the ones who are married. The people who are married will think about their families and be more cautions with money and belongings. The single individuals will not need to share and be exceedingly wary of the costs because they will not have to support others. He also points out that some individuals will end up keeping their money and not giving charitably because they are plain selfish and would rather keep their wealth for their own needs. This again is a choice of the individual with the marital status in the background, not dictating what choices are to be made.

Bacon starts discussing the relationships and attitudes between the married and unmarried people. “... men are best friends, best masters, best servants,” he says about single men, but they are also far less reliable then those who are married. Those unmarried do not have the restraint to be free that married men have. Opposite that, married people are more reliable;. they have more discipline because of their responsibilities at home. Single women have stronger bonds because they rely on the “merit of their chastity.” This shows the relationships of married and unmarried people depend on their ideas and individual selves. The people who are single are more likely to be the ones who are carefree and spontaneous while the married are the ones who will be more likely to look at logical explanations and consider the repercussions or outcomes of a certain choice.

Sir Francis Bacon believes that people can go for the “good” or “evil” ways with some dictation from marital statues, however they do not completely and wholly dictate the choices, behaviour, or relationships because the individual conscience will weigh in.