T.S. Arthur’s Short Story, ‘Romance and Reality’

A dose of hard reality helps a young couple live a more satisfying life.

“Young Couple,” circa 1492–94, by Albrecht Dürer. Engraving. Kunsthalle Hamburg, Germany. A young couple learns hard truths in T.S. Arthur's short story. Public Domain

The clash of fantasy and reality has always waged in people’s hearts. Although there should be a healthy balance between the two, reality must be the basis for all of life’s choices. Despite its sorrows and pains, living in the real world also brings the most clarity, fulfillment, and joy.

In his short story “Romance and Reality,” T.S. Arthur emphasizes the need for a good grounding in reality. By following a newlywed couple, Arthur highlights the dangers of living a pretentious lifestyle, rather than living in a realistic one.

A Romantic Love

When Charles Fenwick meets Adelaide Merton, they are both young and extremely romantic. Charles possesses “views of life [that are] altogether perverted and erroneous, and his ends are deeply tinctured with the love of distinction, for its own sake.” Adelaide possesses a character which is “showy in her style of conversation, but exceedingly superficial.”