Idealism vs. Practicality

A driving, desperate desire to develop, live, and maintain an ideal life is the primary intention behind the attitudes and actions of Harriet and David, who design that life according to what they believe to be their fundamental natures and needs. They act on that desire in two ways - by doing what they can and/or need to, and by self-righteously insisting that their families support them both financially and morally. In other words, their idealism blinds them to the practicalities of their world and their life together. Some might say, in fact, that Harriet and David actually bully their families into doing what they want, making them responsible for the practicalities of their (Harriet and David's) idealism. At the very least Harriet and David are passive-aggressive, taking little or no action to fulfill the responsibilities associated with the life they have chosen while, at...