DOES A BROKEN HEART MATTER?

DOES A BROKEN HEART MATTER? Daniel Gilbert in STUMBLING ON HAPPINESS argues that people are much more resilient than they think. He advances the proposition that, “Like so many things, getting jilted is more painful in prospect and more rosy in retrospect” (page 175). He also says that he would bet a good bottle of wine that if you took a survey of people who had been jilted at the altar that more would say it was the best thing that ever happened to them than who would say it was the worst thing that ever happened to them. I have always agreed with Auden’s view of the matter: “No man ever said with satisfaction, ‘I almost married the girl I love’ or a nation, ‘We almost won the war’” (THE DYER’S HAND, page 431). Gilbert’s position runs contrary to most of Western literature. I can think of two movies which support the proposition that one can live happily after lost love: THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG and TITANIC (yes, says Gilbert, the heart will go on).