I was married early and divorced after about 20 years. I’ve never been bitter, but wound up single by choice. I quickly learned to keep the matchmakers at bay by acting a bit crazier than I am – a defense mechanism I’ve found useful in a variety of situations since childhood.
I’d also point out that things have changed since Jane Austin’s day and that in the past century we have radically altered the relationship between the sexes. In my great grand daddy’s day the many cigar stores in NY were not cigar stores – they were brothels. I think we are utilizing the talents of the fair sex a whole lot better today, but that much change exposes weaknesses and limitations in institutions like marriage that take time and hard earned awareness to correct. (Telling that cigar store story at just the wrong moment is a good example of how to keep the matchmakers away.)
