MovieChat Forums > Little House on the Prairie (1974) Discussion > Why did Nellie and "Perciville&quot...

Why did Nellie and "Perciville" have to get married after a 15 second engagement?


They never even went out on a date, but they get engaged before their first kiss, and then they get married the next day. What's the rush?

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Why does any young couple get married quickly? Well, not THAT, because Nellie was a well brought up young woman who had morals instilled in her by her moral parents unlike those Ingalls kids. No, she just wanted to jump Perciville's bones, the sooner the better.

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Other than the show had a habit of ramrodding story lines through, I'd agree with Reverend Alden. Nellie was extremely frustrated, had a lot of pent up emotions, and was hot to trot. (And had been ever since her annulled marriage and almost hook up with the pig farmer.) We were supposed to believe that back then, no one took a roll in the hay without first walking down the aisle. So they either had to hurry up the wedding, or she would have exploded.

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I think Michael Landon missed an opportunity to mine some great episodes out of the pair dating, their engagement, wedding planning, etc. Nellie was "tamed" far too quickly - would have been fun for them to go at it for a bit before she settled down.

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I agree.

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Yes there could have been some good courtship episodes. But like ditto-head wrote, the show "ramrodded" story lines through rather quickly.

In the fourth season Caroline thinks she is ill and visits Doc Baker, only to find out that she is expecting a baby. The whole pregnancy and the delivery of baby Grace happen in one episode.

With Nellie and Percival, I always took their fighting, contentious relationship to be a courtship of sorts. It reminded me of the old screwball comedies of the thirties and forties. The two lead characters would argue their way through the entire movie only to realize that they were in love at the end.

After their last big blowup Percival said something like, "A girl as pretty as you doesn't need a restaurant to catch a husband!"

He basically declared himself and Nellie was a goner at that point. "He thinks I'm pretty!"

No way was she letting him go! I think a prolonged courtship at that point would've been anti-climactic. If Percival could stand the obnoxious,bratty Nellie, he must've been in love! lol And Nellie never put up with bad treatment from anyone, so if Percival could yell at her and dump food on her head, she was in love too.

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Good summary as to the relationship which as you hinted at can not be judged by modern standards plus they were in constant contact over the few months Nellie was being trained to run the business.

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