You beat me to write this, seriously it is very well written and quite on point
They should stop with these tropes, it's influence could seriously give false expectations what should be acceptable or not in a relationship
Considering the book was originally published in 1990, it makes sense the book is outdated.
I don’t think that being outdated is the problem. This story would have sucked if it was written by Boccaccio at the time of the Black Plague in the 14th century. Come to think of it, the male characters in The Decameron, while totally horny, treated women better than this useless prick.
The plot was stupefyingly unrealistic. I would also call it psychologically impossible. Here we have a sneering, bipolar misogynist who basically lives in an unhealthy world of his own creating. He also commits sexual assault on more than one occasion, once upon first acquaintance and within a few minutes of meeting the FL. Had he tried his shenanigans with a woman of brains and character, he would have found himself in jail. He’s obviously not a very young man and has been this way for a while. The idea that a few “home truths” from the FL’s aunt would magically turn him into the world’s most sensitive, empathetic, and gentle human being is ludicrous to the point of abject stupidity. One might as well expect the home spun wisdom of Jed Clampett from “The Beverly Hillbillies” to soften Joseph Stalin’s heart.
As to the FL: the poor girl was in definite need of intensive therapy. To immediately fall in love with a predator who attempts to rape her within minutes of their first meeting is mania in an acute form. She seems to be suffering from Stockholm Syndrome without even being kidnaped. She needs to be protected from herself as well as nearly everything in trousers.
All in all, this has to be the worst example I’ve seen of the “my bad childhood is why I’m a psychopath” trope. It’s also a rotten example of the “love of a good woman saves the scumbag” premise, and both of these plot devices are not only overdone, but are corny as hell. It makes me think of actor Forrest Tucker’s line from an ancient movie “The Deerslayer,” where he said, “I need me a sweet and pure woman to help me mend my evil ways.” That was at least hilarious, even though corny beyond belief. This story takes itself too seriously to be funny.