The Descent of Man

marry into a much lower rank. The men who
succeed in obtaining the more beautiful women
will not have a better chance of leaving a long
line of descendants than other men with plainer
wives, save the few who bequeath their fortunes
according to primogeniture. With respect to
the opposite form of selection, namely, of the
more attractive men by the women, although in
civilised nations women have free or almost
free choice, which is not the case with barbarous
races, yet their choice is largely influenced
by the social position and wealth of the men;
and the success of the latter in life depends
much on their intellectual powers and energy,
or on the fruits of these same powers in their
forefathers. No excuse is needed for treating
this subject in some detail; for, as the German
philosopher Schopenhauer remarks, "the final
aim of all love intrigues, be they comic or tragic,
is really of more importance than all other
ends in human life. What it all turns upon is
nothing less than the composition of the next