Ending an Engagement: Break Slowly or Snap Suddenly?

January 27, 2022
Ending an Engagement:  Break Slowly or Snap Suddenly?
TeaMusic
PG Tips with a splash of milkHandel: Alla Hornpipe, Suite in D Water Music

Dear Erica,

I’ve gotten engaged to my boyfriend of nearly five years, but after just a few short weeks, I’ve decided I can’t go through with it. How can I end it as nicely as possibly? Do I tell him I’m having doubts now and then later on break the news gently? Or do I tell him right away? I know I will hurt him, and I do care for him, but I also know I’d be miserable if I married him. What should I do?

Distressed in Denver

Dear Distressed in Denver,

If you are certain you want to end your engagement, I advise you to do it right away. Unfortunately, breaking off an engagement is never easy, as Helen tells her sister Margaret in Howard’s End.

“Can you break an engagement off slowly?” Her eyes lit up. ”What’s an engagement made of, do you suppose? I think it’s made of some hard stuff, that may snap. It is different to the other ties of life. They stretch or bend. They admit of degree. They’re different.” Howard’s End by E.M Forster

In Howard’s End, Paul Wilcox and Helen Schlegel enter into a whirlwind engagement that they soon regret. Once they had broken off their engagment, Paul and Helen never felt the same about each other, the spark of attraction disappeared, and an antipathy developed between their two families. As I’m sure you are aware, your old relationship will never be the same. However, as difficult as a broken engagement can be, it is more important to be true to yourself than to remain engaged. If Helen and Paul had remained engaged, she would have been miserable and would not have lived the life she was meant to live. And as messy and dramatic as that life turned out to be, she was far happier being true to herself.

My only advice is that if you are sure you want to end your engagement, you should do it quickly, decisively, and with as much discretion as possible, i.e., try to keep the gossiping to a minimum. In Howard’s End, different family members get the wrong end of the stick as letters are exchanged and gossip spreads. As a sign of respect and affection, you must tell your fiance the news first, and avoid discussing the matter with too many people. As hurt as he will be by your ending the engagement, he will be mortally wounded if he finds out from someone else that you are having doubts. I wish I could give you more comforting words of advice, but just remember, that many women have found themselves in the same unfortunate situation as you, and some very remarkable heroines, and they all survived. And you will too.

Best,

Erica