Who is worse?

Who is worse?

  • Man A

    Votes: 5 33.3%

  • Man B

    Votes: 10 66.7%
  • Total voters
    15
Faye

Faye

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So I'm reading a fantasy novel about a war between two factions. Of the human characters in the book, there are two main male characters-one on each side of the war. I'll call them Man A and Man B. I'm curious which of the two men has a more indecent love life, in your opinion. The book is an independent novel called Rys Rising, and if you don't want any spoilers for it, you should stop reading now.

Man A: He has two women that he deliberately makes compete for his affection. They both know about each other, and the three of them have had threesomes. The women, especially one of them, would prefer exclusivity, but they tolerate it because they want the guy (because he is powerful- among other things, 'The Overlord' is his title). He cares much more about obeying his orders for the war than either of the women. He does not really love them- he just uses them to satisfy his urges and enjoys seeing them jealous of each other. He is not married to either of them, and he is not interested in marrying either of them (and one of them definitely isn't interested in marrying him). One of the women sees other men, and one remains faithful to him.

Man B: He has a wife, which he only recently married, and there is another woman in a different town who he cheated on his wife with both when he was courting her (resulting in a son) and after he had been recently married. His new wife does not know about the other woman or the baby. He cares much more about the women than obeying his orders for the war. He loves both of them and his son too. He is also wealthy and influential (not in the same way as Man A). He offered to make the woman with the baby his mistress (to bring her to the town he lives in and financially support her), but she refused it. The woman he had the baby with is married to another man that would probably try to kill him if he knew about the affair.

Additionally, both of the men are acting in accord with their societies' customs. Man A's society permits polygamy, and most men with his level of status and power would have a collection of wives instead of just two women that aren't even married to him. Man B's society permits the keeping of a mistress by wealthy men. Neither of the men would be looked down on by society at large for what they are doing (although in Man B's case, some people would be unhappy and would say bad things about the woman who is his mistress).

So who do you think is worse (who has a more indecent love life), Man A or Man B?

Poll to follow.
 
Dang, I intended to vote B but clicked the wrong button.

Anyway, B for dishonesty ("no sins as long as there's permission and deception is the only felony" and all that stuff). Then again, I'm not sure it's clear whether or not A can be charged with the same crime, so I guess it hinges on that.
 
I voted A because that man is openly manipulative, greedy, and slightly malicious in my eyes, in contrast to B's illegitimate moral honesty. At least B cares for his actions. I might have voted differently had I known more about B's marriage status and situation - it could have been forced or purely pretense, for all I know the resultant love could be narcissistic/"better than being alone" - before making a judgement on his character. There is also the flapper women's motivations to consider: why would A's I'd-marry-you lass remain (naively) faithful through threesomes and why is B's mistress cheating on her husband? (A's sidekick is setting herself up to be used and hurt, at the very least.) Their mechanics play as large a part in the manipulations as the men themselves, more complex group dynamics.
 
I voted for A because playing with people in such a callous way is despicable.
 
A... for reasons listed above.
 
Man b is a liar and a cheat, man a is a megalomaniac. Each is manipulating sex partners to get what he wants. Lying and cheating trumps overt narcissism.
 
The women in example A know what they are getting themselves into, the woman in B does not.
 
Sali said:
The women in example A know what they are getting themselves into, the woman in B does not.
Click to expand...
This^^^

Although, I'm not particularly fond of either of the two.
 
I'd say they're both about equal. Man A deliberately makes women jealous/hurt for his amusement; Man B loves both women and both can and has tried to support both and all the children but has kept a mistress from his wife's knowledge. I think Man A is likely to be or become a more desctructive person overall. Man B is more supportive/nurturing of people in the situation, and considering polygamy is normal in it, he is probably not as destructive as a person given this context.
 
Man B 100%.

In Man A's situation: The first two women already know what's up. It is their choice. Also, they probably don't even love the guy that much if they are willing to subject themselves to that type of relationship. They are instead seeing him as a trophy instead of a person, or have some type of obsessive love.

In Man B's situation: The man has a wife who really does love him, and yet he is having an affair that she is unaware of. She does not choose to be in this situation, and finding out of the matter would pretty much destroy her. While in the other scenario, it wouldn't be such a big deal to lose someone who was ambivalent about you in the first place. The key difference here being that Wife B is an innocent victim. Wives A already know the truth, they are just being foolish.
 
Good point that both women in situation A are willing participants..
But I tend to feel more sympathetic towards man B for at least caring about his women.
A just sounds like an arrogant prick exploiting some rather pathetic women.
B sounds like someone who is in a quandary of feelings.
 
Dragon said:
So I'm reading a fantasy novel about a war between two factions. Of the human characters in the book, there are two main male characters-one on each side of the war. I'll call them Man A and Man B. I'm curious which of the two men has a more indecent love life, in your opinion. The book is an independent novel called Rys Rising, and if you don't want any spoilers for it, you should stop reading now.

Man A: He has two women that he deliberately makes compete for his affection. They both know about each other, and the three of them have had threesomes. The women, especially one of them, would prefer exclusivity, but they tolerate it because they want the guy (because he is powerful- among other things, 'The Overlord' is his title). He cares much more about obeying his orders for the war than either of the women. He does not really love them- he just uses them to satisfy his urges and enjoys seeing them jealous of each other. He is not married to either of them, and he is not interested in marrying either of them (and one of them definitely isn't interested in marrying him). One of the women sees other men, and one remains faithful to him.

Man B: He has a wife, which he only recently married, and there is another woman in a different town who he cheated on his wife with both when he was courting her (resulting in a son) and after he had been recently married. His new wife does not know about the other woman or the baby. He cares much more about the women than obeying his orders for the war. He loves both of them and his son too. He is also wealthy and influential (not in the same way as Man A). He offered to make the woman with the baby his mistress (to bring her to the town he lives in and financially support her), but she refused it. The woman he had the baby with is married to another man that would probably try to kill him if he knew about the affair.

Additionally, both of the men are acting in accord with their societies' customs. Man A's society permits polygamy, and most men with his level of status and power would have a collection of wives instead of just two women that aren't even married to him. Man B's society permits the keeping of a mistress by wealthy men. Neither of the men would be looked down on by society at large for what they are doing (although in Man B's case, some people would be unhappy and would say bad things about the woman who is his mistress).

So who do you think is worse (who has a more indecent love life), Man A or Man B?

Poll to follow.
Click to expand...
Man B, for the implicit, secretive nature of it. Truth is better than lies, true.
Man A, for the open nature and the ruthlessness of it. His conduct is worse.
 
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