If anybody doesn't see this story as a sign of the pathetic society in which we now live they need to go somewhere and pray for a while.
because, of course, nobody has ever been less than truthful when courting before, and had it catch up with them later. no sir, this is purely an artifact of how pathetic people are today. oedipus, madam butterfly, Thrymskvida, romeo and juliet... why, those are all fiction, you see, and everyone was right and proper in times gone by!
these people were foolish, and have each learned a lesson. that's all there is to it.