What’s the purpose of marriage? Do you have to love someone to get married? Is it love or lust that decides if someone should get married? “Love and sexual desire are intrinsic to the human condition, basic drives that reside in mature adults regardless of time or place but if the urge to love and make love is constant, the freedom with which individuals may do so is anything but. After all, although making love is an enjoyable and cheap entertainment, the raising of children is hard work and expensive, making penetrative sex a risky undertaking in the absence of effective contraceptive methods” (Griffin). The ideas surrounding love and marriage have differ in many ways since the 19th century, but they also have stayed the same in few ways.
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In the novel Jane Eyre, Blanche Ingram wanted to marry Mr. Rochester simply for his money. In the novel Mr. Rochester said, “What love I have for Miss Ingram? None: and that you know. What love she has for me? None: as I have taken pains to prove: I caused rumour to reach her that my fortune was not a third of what was supposed, and after that I presented myself to see the result; it was coldness both from her and her mother” (Jane Eyre, 239). Another example is St. John wanting to marry Jane Eyre after she left money from her uncle John Eyre (Jane Eyre, 358-376). St. John said, “God and nature intended you for a missionary 's wife. It is not personal, but mental endowments they have given you: you are formed for labour, not for love. A missionary’s wife you must - shall be. You shall be mine: I claim you - not for my pleasure, but for my sovereign’s service” (Jane Eyre, 376). While in the 21st Century, “a resurgence of religious ideals and family values has spawned nationwide campaigns to promote old-style marriage and paternal authority” (Coltrane). Marriage within the family seemed to be okay in the early 19th Century. For example, in Jane Eyre, St. John Rivers and Jane Eyre were cousins but St. John still asked her to marry him, and when Jane told Mary and Diana about the marriage, they were excited. While in the 21st Century, that is seen to be nasty and …show more content…
The rise of babies born out of wedlock is still increasing and the divorce rate is still slowing down because people didn’t intend on getting married (Griffin). For example, in the novel Jane Eyre, Jane said, “No one would take me for love…” (Jane Eyre, 363). People feel that people are only marrying benefits. Some people believe “that every federal dollar spent on gestural ‘pro-marriage’ initiatives is one less federal dollar for other anti-poverty and pro-family measures that are likely to work, such as efforts to prevent teenage pregnancy” (Rauch). When people got married, most of them weren’t celibate. A good percentage of women are actually pregnant when they walk down the aisle (Griffin). Men and women still make promises they don’t plan on keeping. “Some women might hope that a pregnancy would turn ambiguous (or non-existent) promises into a firm offer of marriage; some men no doubt uttered crystal-clear promises and later reneged on them”
In the novel Jane Eyre, Blanche Ingram wanted to marry Mr. Rochester simply for his money. In the novel Mr. Rochester said, “What love I have for Miss Ingram? None: and that you know. What love she has for me? None: as I have taken pains to prove: I caused rumour to reach her that my fortune was not a third of what was supposed, and after that I presented myself to see the result; it was coldness both from her and her mother” (Jane Eyre, 239). Another example is St. John wanting to marry Jane Eyre after she left money from her uncle John Eyre (Jane Eyre, 358-376). St. John said, “God and nature intended you for a missionary 's wife. It is not personal, but mental endowments they have given you: you are formed for labour, not for love. A missionary’s wife you must - shall be. You shall be mine: I claim you - not for my pleasure, but for my sovereign’s service” (Jane Eyre, 376). While in the 21st Century, “a resurgence of religious ideals and family values has spawned nationwide campaigns to promote old-style marriage and paternal authority” (Coltrane). Marriage within the family seemed to be okay in the early 19th Century. For example, in Jane Eyre, St. John Rivers and Jane Eyre were cousins but St. John still asked her to marry him, and when Jane told Mary and Diana about the marriage, they were excited. While in the 21st Century, that is seen to be nasty and …show more content…
The rise of babies born out of wedlock is still increasing and the divorce rate is still slowing down because people didn’t intend on getting married (Griffin). For example, in the novel Jane Eyre, Jane said, “No one would take me for love…” (Jane Eyre, 363). People feel that people are only marrying benefits. Some people believe “that every federal dollar spent on gestural ‘pro-marriage’ initiatives is one less federal dollar for other anti-poverty and pro-family measures that are likely to work, such as efforts to prevent teenage pregnancy” (Rauch). When people got married, most of them weren’t celibate. A good percentage of women are actually pregnant when they walk down the aisle (Griffin). Men and women still make promises they don’t plan on keeping. “Some women might hope that a pregnancy would turn ambiguous (or non-existent) promises into a firm offer of marriage; some men no doubt uttered crystal-clear promises and later reneged on them”