Introduction
Courting is generally regarded as the necessary ritual between representatives of two sexes that is needed for making the proper choice. Because this ritual is attributed not only to humans but to animals also, the significance of courting is biological. Its duration and significance strongly depend on the development level of the species. In general, the courting period is divided into five stages, and each stage presupposes a particular ritual. The paper aims to analyze the courting of King David when he was trying to conquer Juanita’s heart from the perspective of courting significance and value as it is described by Helen Fisher in her “Anatomy of Love”.
Importance and Theory of Courting
Courting is the necessary ritual within animals before pairing. This is required for selecting the proper partner, and defining whether a partner is worth attention. Therefore, courting is aimed at proving that the choice is correct. Professor Helen Fisher tries to explain courting within humans from the perspectives of the animal world. Therefore, she concluded that the general rules of courting are similar for animals and humans. In general, the courting period, following Fisher’s researches is divided into five stages:
- Attention-getting stage. This is similar to establishing the territory. Men and women start showing off to make the necessary impression.
- Recognition. This is required for showing the attention of the other is accepted, and following actions are encouraged. Male has an opportunity to approach the selected female.
- Talking phase. Insects, birds, mammals start singing. Men start talking and showing their IQ level. A Male’s song is the signal for females whether courting should be accepted or not.
- Touching phase. The distance between both starts decreasing. This means that the comfort level of both improves, and more daring actions may be taken. This involves hugging another person, touching, brushing delicately.
- The final phase of courting is synchronizing, or mirroring. Animals do not have this phase; however, it is one of the most fascinating within humans. This stage is performed unconsciously: people start copying movements and gestures made by the other. This gives the signal to another person that both are in tune with each other. (Fisher, 145)
These five stages will be used as the basis for analyzing the behavior of King David, and his courtship with Juanita. In general, these actions are not exemplary, as King David violates the rules of “correct” courtship. Anyway, he succeeds, and Juanita shows that she is quite interested in him.
Never Die Alone
The process of courtship shown in movies, fiction, or stories often differs from the commonly accepted rules. On the one hand, the process may seem quite attractive for watching, romantic and effective; on the other hand, it may differ from the stated principles of courting, as humans are individual, and their individualities may require applying non-standard approaches.
In the movie, “Never Die Alone” in which King David shows courtship when trying to win Juanita’s heart, the process of courtship is shown as the situational contact. This is described by Clement (178): courtship process is always defined by the requirements of the situation, as any type of communication should be reasonably grounded. Therefore, King David acts by the surrounding circumstances to attract Juanita’s attention, and then conquer her heart. He does not act by Helen Fisher’s observations that she had described in her book, “Anatomy of Love”. King David does show plenty of examples. Hence, he is extremely work-oriented, and he had never fallen in love as deep as it is needed for proper courting. The opening stage of courting also presupposes some flash of falling in love at first sight. Hence, by the plot, King David drops in a bar to have a drink, when he notices a young beautiful girl named Juanita. His reaction is shown in the phrase below: “She’s everything a man could want, beautiful, intelligent, uncorrupted.” David approaches her nonchalantly, and, he is rejected instantly. Even though courting should stop by scientific classification, and the initial stage has already failed, he starts the next phase – recognition. When Juanita is walking with a drink, King David bumps into her slightly, and that causes the drink to spill all over him. She helps him clean up; hence, they skip to the next phase ‑ touching. King David notices that Juanita is quite responsive; however, she is simply playing “hard to get” for making the courting game more interesting. Then, David insists on seeing her after work. Juanita explains that she is a student and works in the restaurant. She does not have much time, but she agrees to see him again. This is the successful ending of the courting process that was invented in the course of the contract. It has been already emphasized that some stages were skipped, and the entire process was not subjected to particular rules stated by Fisher (78).
The instance of King David and Juanita reveals that the courting process may differ from the generally accepted norms. Nevertheless, these norms can not be regarded as obligatory, as motives of the process among humans differ from the motives among animals. Courting maybe just be a part of communication, and people tend to know each other better before making sex. People are subjected to mood change, and while Juanita takes David’s wooing aggressively, then, she realizes that his intentions are serious enough for making another attempt. Though, her reaction may be also explained by David’s aggressive start of wooing. Then, he appears to be an interesting and attractive collocutor for her. By the scientific principles stated by Fisher, a male (a man) rarely continues trying or makes another attempt if he is rejected. His attention may be switched to another object. Therefore, Anatomy of Love, which is based on analyzing animals’ behavior may be helpless when describing some instances and patterns of human behavior.
As for the matter of skipping the stages, this phenomenon may be explained by the fact that the comfort level between two people was high enough for this. Therefore, Juanita, in order not to seem too available, continued acting as a “hard to get”, while David accepted her rules of the game. This skipping was necessary for developing the situation as if David did everything by the rules, the attraction, as well as comfort, levels would decrease instantly. There could be an opportunity for a third attempt also, however, its effectiveness would be essentially lower. Because circumstances were suitable enough for violating some courting rules, humans’ courting process is more situation-oriented. This is clearly shown in the movie, as David acts by the situation, and attracts Juanita’s attention delicately after the first failure.
Additionally, it should be stated that the possible differences in the described processes and real-life are obvious. Humans are also animals from the biological point of view, however, humans are also social creatures. Therefore, human actions are also dictated by social norms, education, psychological patterns, tastes, and preferences, etc. Therefore, the classification of courting by Helen Fisher may be regarded as the basic principles of inter-human relations, while the actual principles of courting and communication of two persons who attract each other may be stipulated by numerous other factors, and these factors create unique situations with unique communication rules and principles.
Conclusion
Courting is generally regarded as the necessary ritual between potential sex partners. Courting among humans may be classified by the general courting principles among animals, nevertheless, Helen Fisher in her “Anatomy of Love” gives basic rules of this ritual. The example shown in “Never Die Alone” movie clearly shows that the course of courting may differ, and humans may easily skip some stages, while animals usually can not. This is explained by the fact that King David and Juanita agreed with the rules of each other, that is why both succeeded. By the scientific classification of the courting process, both violated the rules, however, this did not prevent them from winning the game of courting.
Works Cited
Clement, Elizabeth Alice. Love for Sale: Courting, Treating, and Prostitution in New York City, 1900-1945. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2006.
Fisher, Helen. “Anatomy of Love: A Natural History of Mating, Marriage, and Why We Stray”. Ballantine Books, New York. 1994.