Aesop is often outdated. The morals of his stories don’t always make sense anymore. For sure, some of them are timeless. No-one’s going to argue that the lion should have eaten the mouse. But many of them teach children the wrong lesson. Yet Aesop has retained his status as a purveyor of sound morals.
I would guess Peacock and Crane is aimed at young women choosing a lifelong husband, and it serves as a useful corrective to the natural inclination to pick the most charming guy. Assuming limited traveling, finding a mate really was zero-sum. Pride & Prejudice and War & Peace have essentially the same moral lesson. All that said, it may still be outdated with the rise of divorce and less downside from a bad marriage -- your kids won't starve to death because you picked a bad farmer.
I would guess Peacock and Crane is aimed at young women choosing a lifelong husband, and it serves as a useful corrective to the natural inclination to pick the most charming guy. Assuming limited traveling, finding a mate really was zero-sum. Pride & Prejudice and War & Peace have essentially the same moral lesson. All that said, it may still be outdated with the rise of divorce and less downside from a bad marriage -- your kids won't starve to death because you picked a bad farmer.