I read a lot of the comments, quite a lot of valid points out there. PERSONALLY I think there needs to be a mix of the Pride and Prejudice thing of some time apart and them working on their relationship together first. I 100% agree that they need time apart to fully heal and learn and most importantly grow. However, where she to leave now as things are they'd never (most likely) get together. They'd grow apart, she would completely move on from him. The problem right now is that he's trying to mend past mistakes of not showing affection. What he and everyone else (around her) fails to realize is that those displays are meaningless if she's not interested and doesn't realize he cares. He can show affection and have some for her without truly caring for her. What he NEEDS to do is show he cares about her as more than a person in his life and prove himself to be someone she can rely on and trust. Not win her heart or make her fall in love, but simply become someone who can be there for her. From there they can build, right now they have no real relationship. Part of the problem is that these people are engaged as children before they can even learn to develop romantic love and are expected to make it work out. Yes, we see couples be affectionate and enjoy each other and there are many things to encourage their happy relationship. However, I will argue that mostly this society promotes outward display of affection and doesn't actively teach building a real relationship from what I've seen. It's mostly been display affection and hopefully you two will figure out past that. Like, Claude decided for his fiancé what's best for her without asking her or talking to someone about it and the only reason why this is known is because of abnormally prying acquaintances. We don't see anyone trying to help (like the parents) characters struggling with their relationships outside of the ML actively asking for help and the FL prying into other's lives (which she doesn't do much of). It SEEMS like there's more of a focus on public displays society can see and judge you from rather than people genuinely learning what a real relationship is and how to overcome struggle. Claude doesn't, again, SEEM to have made an attempt on how to make a romantic relationship with a woman he cares about work with his ambitions and decided for her and seemingly women in general based off his initial comments towards the main character. He might not even believe that women have the strength to withstand such emotional hardships. He also hasn't told her his intention to hopefully end their relationship and just treats her poorly hoping she'll get the hint which she clearly isn't doing. He also doesn't seem to have taken into consideration how his decision will affect her. She has no way of knowing their relationship will end and as a women in this society she has to assume that unless told otherwise she will be with the man she is currently engaged to, he basically is cruelly stringing her along. Additionally he clearly expects her to figure out the relationship thing by herself when, from what we've seen, she won't/can't be the one to decide her relationship as a woman and may not have good prospects outside of him therefore making her search for a new better (for her) partner much more difficult. The male characters care for the women around them but entirely fail to understand the situation any of the women are in (even in Cecily's relationship where she was afraid to admit she has none "womanly hobbies") and I think that another large portion of the character's problems comes from sexism and ignorance.
I read a lot of the comments, quite a lot of valid points out there. PERSONALLY I think there needs to be a mix of the Pride and Prejudice thing of some time apart and them working on their relationship together first. I 100% agree that they need time apart to fully heal and learn and most importantly grow. However, where she to leave now as things are they'd never (most likely) get together. They'd grow apart, she would completely move on from him. The problem right now is that he's trying to mend past mistakes of not showing affection. What he and everyone else (around her) fails to realize is that those displays are meaningless if she's not interested and doesn't realize he cares. He can show affection and have some for her without truly caring for her. What he NEEDS to do is show he cares about her as more than a person in his life and prove himself to be someone she can rely on and trust. Not win her heart or make her fall in love, but simply become someone who can be there for her. From there they can build, right now they have no real relationship. Part of the problem is that these people are engaged as children before they can even learn to develop romantic love and are expected to make it work out. Yes, we see couples be affectionate and enjoy each other and there are many things to encourage their happy relationship. However, I will argue that mostly this society promotes outward display of affection and doesn't actively teach building a real relationship from what I've seen. It's mostly been display affection and hopefully you two will figure out past that. Like, Claude decided for his fiancé what's best for her without asking her or talking to someone about it and the only reason why this is known is because of abnormally prying acquaintances. We don't see anyone trying to help (like the parents) characters struggling with their relationships outside of the ML actively asking for help and the FL prying into other's lives (which she doesn't do much of). It SEEMS like there's more of a focus on public displays society can see and judge you from rather than people genuinely learning what a real relationship is and how to overcome struggle. Claude doesn't, again, SEEM to have made an attempt on how to make a romantic relationship with a woman he cares about work with his ambitions and decided for her and seemingly women in general based off his initial comments towards the main character. He might not even believe that women have the strength to withstand such emotional hardships. He also hasn't told her his intention to hopefully end their relationship and just treats her poorly hoping she'll get the hint which she clearly isn't doing. He also doesn't seem to have taken into consideration how his decision will affect her. She has no way of knowing their relationship will end and as a women in this society she has to assume that unless told otherwise she will be with the man she is currently engaged to, he basically is cruelly stringing her along. Additionally he clearly expects her to figure out the relationship thing by herself when, from what we've seen, she won't/can't be the one to decide her relationship as a woman and may not have good prospects outside of him therefore making her search for a new better (for her) partner much more difficult. The male characters care for the women around them but entirely fail to understand the situation any of the women are in (even in Cecily's relationship where she was afraid to admit she has none "womanly hobbies") and I think that another large portion of the character's problems comes from sexism and ignorance.