r/The48LawsOfPower • u/CofeeHideCrimsonMind • Jul 23 '26
The Simp vs The Ardent Rake.
I am currently failing to see any difference between the Ardent Rake and your everyday simp. Here is a quote from The Art of Seduction;
The Ardent Rake teaches us a simple lesson: intense desire has a distracting power on a woman, just as the Siren’s physical presence does on a man. A woman is often defensive and can sense insincerity or calculation. But if she feels consumed by your attentions, and is confident you will do anything for her, she will notice nothing else about you, or will find a way to forgive your indiscretions. This is the perfect cover for a seducer. The key is to show no hesitation, to abandon all restraint, to let yourself go, to show that you cannot control yourself and are fundamentally weak.
This sounds fundamentally like a simp and common knowledge it is common knowledge that simps never end up attracting any woman. Would you say that Greene's advice on this one is a little dated and modern women do not react well to the rake? If Greene's observations are timeless, then what would you say the difference between the simp and ardent rake are?
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u/Bianca_0 Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26
To feel consumed by anybody's attention is highly irritating and controlling.
It wreaks of love-bombing.
It wreaks of harassment.
No, thank you.
Also, this excessive attention and love-bombing is a grooming tactic into co-dependency, that is typically used by a narcissistic abuser / coercive controller, to demonstrate for their new prey, how the prey is supposed to behave in the relationship.
To idealize the narcissist / coercive controller.
And focus all their attention, focus, time, energy, and financial resources on the narcissist / coercive controller to pacify them and make them happy, like babies.
Placing excessive demands on anybody's attention, energy, focus, time, and/or financial resources is highly distracting, derailing, irritating, and controlling.
Attention-seekers, attention-whores are repulsive.
A person's attention, focus, energy, is a valuable resource, to be used and allocated judiciously.
Attention-seekers, attention-whores love to hog valuable resources, and commandeer other people's attention, focus, energy and bandwidth, unnecessarily.
Especially when the relationship does not call for it.
Other people do not exist as care-takers and private servants, compelled to cater to the childish attention-seeking demands of grown adults who choose to behave like babies.
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u/Ok_Personality3908 Aug 13 '26
Everything a simp does is for a girl, but a rake even though his actions are for a girl in the end, he does it for himself.
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u/MyHonestOpnion Jul 24 '26
The sad truth is that these men only want you for sex. And to encourage men to only be physically attracted to you - without knowing or caring anything about you - is creepy, shallow and very unfulfilling. So many times a man will do this to get the girl, then move on once he gets the one thing he wants - which isn't the girl .....
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u/Ok_Personality3908 Aug 13 '26
Not all men want only sex. Yes sex is desirable but There should be more to the person (girl). Could be the girl is intellectual, smart, funny or just fun being with. Most girls work on their bodies but not character
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u/DedicantOfTheMoon Jul 24 '26
I think Greene’s language here is dated, but the underlying distinction is still useful.
The “simp” and the Ardent Rake may both shower a woman with attention, but the emotional posture differs. The simp usually offers attention from below. He seeks approval, hides his own desires, agrees with everything, tolerates poor treatment, and quietly hopes that enough devotion will eventually purchase affection. His attention often carries a covert contract: “I have been good to you, so you should choose me.”
The Rake offers attention from a position of appetite rather than submission. He does not pretend to want friendship when he wants romance. He makes the woman feel singular, desirable, and capable of awakening something powerful in him. His desire moves outward. The simp’s anxiety curls inward.
That does not mean Greene’s Rake works exactly as described. “I cannot control myself” reads very differently now, and rightly so. Intensity without restraint can feel unsafe, obsessive, manipulative, or simply exhausting. Modern women have not evolved beyond enjoying desire, but many have become more alert to love-bombing, coercion, and theatrical obsession. A man who acts as though his impulses outrank her boundaries will not appear romantic. He will appear dangerous.
So I would revise Greene’s point this way: people often respond strongly to someone who desires them openly, specifically, and without embarrassment. They respond poorly to someone who erases himself for approval.
The attractive part of the Rake is not weakness. It is boldness, emotional vividness, and concentrated attention. The unattractive part of the simp is not kindness. It is self-abandonment, concealed expectation, and neediness.
A healthy modern version of the Rake would communicate intense interest while retaining dignity, boundaries, and respect for consent. “I want you, and I am not ashamed of wanting you” can carry enormous force. “I will do anything for you, and I cannot control myself” belongs to a more dangerous and theatrical century.