Essay on The Real Meaning of Marriage

Recently, people have been arguing with respect to the definition of marriage. To get married is a very important event for almost everyone. Particularly for women, marriage and giving a birth could be the two major events of their lives. Andrew Sullivan and William Bennett are authors who are arguing about homosexual marriage. Sullivan believes in same-sex marriage because he thinks everyone has a right to marry. On the other hand, Bennett speaks out against Sullivan’s opinion. Bennett makes a claim that marriage is between a man and a woman structuring their entire life together. Both authors’ opinions differ on same-sex marriage. Nevertheless, their ideas are well recognized.

The definition of marriage is the legally recognized union of two individuals. For many people that is the only definition. However, to others it means so much more than that. Marriage is not for the weak, it is not for people who are selfish and people who do not want to work at it. Marriage is being there for each other and being selfless for the other person. For those people who feel that it is much more than just a legal representation. They feel that two individuals coming together for life is more than a piece of paper. It is two individuals blending their lives together forever.

What Is A Happy Marriage? - A 16 Step Guide To Becoming Your Wife 's Prince Charming

This is a book that puts forward what it portrays as seven rules that can guide couples toward a concordant and durable relationship. The book endeavors to expose a number of what it portrays as myths about marriages and also why they fail. The ideas in this book are definitely coming from the most appropriate channel due to the fact that Gottman, being a professor of psychology and the director and founder of the Seattle Marital and Family Institute, has carried out studies on the routines of married couples in remarkable detail through the span of numerous years. The seven standards Gottman sets out are for the lovers to improve their love maps; sustain affection and admiration; move in the direction of each other rather than away; allow their partner impact them; take care of their solvable issues; conquer gridlock, and make shared meaning. Direct in their approach, yet significant in their impact, these standards show partners new and amazing techniques for making their marriage work. These principles help couples concentrate on each other, on focusing on the little everyday moments that when hung together, make up the absolute entirety of any relationship. Being attentive to customary matters gives life partners a strong foundation for settling dispute when it does happen and discovering techniques for living or coping up with those issues that can 't be settled. (Gottman, 2015)

These ideas are an interpretation of what society views as concepts of marriage. One of the things I found to be interesting in the above list was the absence of the word love.

Marriage has been portrayed as many things throughout the years. In the short stories, The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin and A Jury of Her Peers by Susan Glaspell both portray marriage, and how it does not always bring happiness. Each story was written by a married woman in the 1800s, this could reveal and interrupt how the lives of a married woman were in their time period. In each story, the main character is woman being overpowered by her husband, then when they find out they could be ‘free’ a sudden sigh of relief comes to mind. Only to be either be mislead or to feel trapped again. The authors Kate Chopin and Susan

During the early 1800s, marriage was seen as a fortification of wealth and power through the unification of two families instead of a declaration of endearment, as reflected through the materialistic marriage customs in the Antebellum South. Generally, a man’s parents designated a future spouse for their son, based off of a woman’s familial ties and financial stature, due to the economic ramifications that the marriage had upon each party involved (O’Neil). Although financial characteristics of the bride’s family were primarily the deciding factor, men typically prefered to marry a compliant woman with “piety, purity, submissiveness and domesticity” (Fontin), considering that the gender roles at the time denounced women with ambitious or assertive

Marriage in the 1800s Over time, marriage has remained as a bond between two people showing their commitment to one and other. However, the traditions have changed as new cultures developed.. The 1800s consisted of young men courting in their late teens and marrying in their mid-twenties.

The short story, "A Dead Woman 's Secret," is about a mother who just passed away. Her children, who became successful adults because of mother 's love and nurture, kneeled down beside her bed. The thought of letting her go was terrifying, so they decided to read her old letters. The first few stocks of letters brought a lot of positive emotions and brightened up their mood. As they dug further down through the letters, they learned the truth that absolutely destroyed the image of a perfect mother that they had on their mind ever since the childhood. They found love letters from a man they never heard of. Mother 's secret was extremely disappointing to handle, so they left her alone in a darkened room. The story demonstrates how people 's perspective of others ' can change in a single moment because of an insignificant secret that floated after drowning in tears for decades.

this point, she had concluded on it as she saw her mother's “disappointed face”(2). In the mirror,

Okeke – Naemake’s father; very religious; a rule follower; believes in traditional view that marriages should be arranged by the families, that people should never marry outside of their own tribe. He is the most dynamic character in the story and undergoes the greatest change when he feels remorse for rejecting his daughter in law and plans to make it up to her as soon as possible at the end of the story.

Marriage is the joining of two people as husband and wives according to laws and customs. In our society today, women get married of their own free will and gain respect from their spouse. "A dream of the 21st century" is a story written by " Winnifred Harper Cooly". It is about a young women's dream. She imagines that women in the 21st century will have a better place in the society. Ideal marriages in the 19th century were very hard to achieve and most of the time, they were without true love. This short story portrays that women of that time would marry someone to overcome financial difficulties. It also describes the lack of respect between the married couples.

together in the early 1980's were between 25 and 34 years old, and an additional

Today, the idea of marriage conjures images of bashful brides beautifully draped in all white, of grandiose flower arrangements climbing towards the ceiling, of romance personified. As an institution in this modern world, marriage represents the apex of romantic love, with an entire industry of magazines, movies, and television shows devoted to perpetuating marriage as an idealized symbol of the ultimate love between two people. Contrarily, as a sociological institution, marriage comes from much more clinical and impersonal origins, contrasting with the passion surrounding modern understandings of the institution. Notably, french anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss theorizes that the institution of marriage emerged from a need to form alliances between groups, with women functioning as the property exchanged so that such alliances could be solidified (Levi-Strauss).

The marriage revolution has been a controversial issue since the dawn of time, and all that are and have been involved with “matrimony” are aware of the issues of the future. There can be no denying that the culture of marriage has changed. This very course is itself a great example of this fact. Much like any other sociological subject of any real concern, there are many “opinions” related to this issue. This paper will attempt to highlight marriage seen as the sociological transformation, marital erosion versus evolution, and why many people fail at marriage and what does it take to be successful in greater detail. This will allow you, the readers, to make up your own minds regarding this extremely multifaceted issue.