Okay, talking about the chief-most female virtue…. and there goes the sub count just kidding, anyways in all seriousness this is a virtue that in to-day’s upside down world of stupid is hardly treated as such. In the eyes of some it is a one-way street, in the eyes of the idiotic party-girls who we all know of and hear of constantly online this is something of a source of shame and embarrassment for men to believe in. Something to yell about, to belittle and that is utterly unmasculine in a man. In the eyes of the red-pill dweebs, it is also considered unmasculine and ought to be shamed and regarded with little real respect.
Amongst women, chastity is irritating and goes against every ‘empowered’ ideal. The red-pill schmucks would have you believe that no woman can be chaste, and that those who are, ought to be pumped and dumped as they say or that those women who have made their mistakes, and wish to course-correct are to be regarded with utter shame and disgust. There is no room for nuance or discussion.
I’m not here to justify, not here to defend or condemn. But rather, I’ll just say that in the realm of the real world, one must employ nuance and basic decency. If you’re a guy and you’ve never been with a woman, certainly you’ve gotta get out there and find someone, and behave with basic chivalry towards and what not (not at the cost of yourself though). In regards to women, don’t let society tell you, to be as promiscuous as possible down that way lies the path of unhappiness. Save yourself for a decent guy, who will treat you with respect.
There patented statements aside, there’s no need to look for direction online for how best to comport yourself in regards to chastity and such. There is however another term for chastity, for those needing just a little reassurance that fidelity to one singular partner is something to be proud of; self-discipline.
That’s right self-discipline is something to be proud of, it is one of the most important virtues and ought to be held in the utmost respect. It is a virtue that allowed in the ancient world Rome to conquer the whole of Europe and North-Africa. It is self-discipline that allowed Charlemagne to turn the rump of a kingdom into an empire, Britain to industrialise and France to achieve the level of cultural highs that she has claimed (and Japan also). Discipline or chastity as some call it, is a golden virtue and something to be proud of it takes resolve and courage, and goodness to hold to.
In fiction, I have found that it is easy to write characters who fall from chastity and into hedonism, and it is indeed great for drama. But there are characters whom it would be most unbecoming to write in this capacity. Some such as the greatest of the knight archetypes (those modelled after King Arthur & Gauvain) ought to be chaste. These are men who have complete and totally perfect self-restraint no matter how ardently they might desire a maiden they have come to love. Preferring to wait until marriage, for the most part.
In the case of my characters of Marculf the Half-Burnt Knight he is one such character, same with Eluan. But the main character of one of my French tales is Henri, and he is a monk who struggles with desire and when he does give into lust it bites him in the rear. It is only when he embraces love rather than base lust that he achieves enlightenment and wisdom, because his struggle was against that of the flesh.
You see? Some characters must struggle against it. For others such as say Peter Parker to use a popular example, it isn’t such a great struggle as he’s married to Mary-Jane Parker, a bombshell who has never loved any other save him so such a struggle wouldn’t make sense.
In regards to writing female characters, I won’t lie I’ve a seductress in mind for an anthology book I’m writing for Nanowrimo, and she’s someone who continuously gives in and brings about suffering to those around her. My view is that giving into vice ought to be something that has direct repercussions, as the very best of stories are about such mistakes and the paying for them. In another tale, I’ve a female character become entranced with the security of her line, and what this results is in her making moral concessions to secure her son’s throne only for her to in the end come to sell her soul and come to have him slain (it’s a long story).
Though, to be clever in the case of another set of male and one female character, I have them lust after the throne of a fictional mythological version of Scotland. In that case, they are unchaste in spirit, and pay for things on a colossal scale. So lack of discipline and fidelity can mean more than for the physical pleasures of life. You can get into the nature of the human spirit and into all sorts of petty human justifications as a writer.
I use my tales here as examples. The thing about this here ‘Iron Age of Lit’ is that though some will say ‘don’t you dare look back to Howard, or Tolkien or whomever’ we must absolutely look to them for inspiration. And ask ourselves how did the ancients treat the virtue of Chastity? Well, they regarded it with sincere awe, and put it on a pedestal. Tolkien made it ought to be one of the golden virtues, and Howard even more so. Contrary to the Red Sonja writers’ way of depicting female characters, Howard typically kept his female leads chaste and faithful, with one exception; Belit. And in the case of Belit it was more a form of spiritual infidelity (the vice of Greed infecting her) that led to her death, but it was her love for Conan that redeemed her in a touching manner reminiscent of Boromir’s own redemption.
Boromir himself was chaste if one thinks about it, and is put on a pedestal as an emblem of redemption. A symbol of new beginnings, and this is the whole idea of chastity. It is about spiritual perfection and it is therefore of the utmost importance. So cherish it. And if you have a very chaste and faithful partner, treasure him or her, they’re worth every sacrifice mes amis.
If you have any ideas for redemption stories, stories of chaste/faithful leads you want to plug do so in the comment section folks, I should definitely like to review them, and do sub, I really love talking Chevalerie.
You might like to check out this story that I cross-posted from another substack. I think it describes a recovered sense of chivalry: https://maryh10000.substack.com/cp/137551243
Looking forward to this series. I like the definition as referring to self control. In the modern world, I think there are more examples of people who were led astray by the current culture needing to re-establish chastity. After never having considered it even as a virtue before.