Questions to guide your reading and our discussion of
Marriage, a history: How love conquered marriage
As you read, remember our mission is to "understand how we got where we are today, how our choices have changed, what old options have fallen away, and what new ones have opened up." p. 12
Chapter One:
1. So, how serious was George Bernard Shaw when he described "marriage as an institution that brings together two people 'under the influence of the most violent, most insane, most delusive, and most transient of passions. They are required to swear that they will remain in that excited, abonormal, and exhausting condition continuously until death do them part." (p. 15). Before you answer, check out the following scientific discovery:
2. What are some of the reasons given in this chapter for the disapproval of love between husband and wife?
**3. Given the statement on page 23: "Never before in history had societies thought that such a set of high expectations about marriage was either realistic or desirable," are we asking too much of one relationship?
Chapter Two:
1. What are the arguments for and against a biological basis for marriage?
2. What are some of the functions marriage has played in different places and times?
Chapter Three:
1. What do you feel was the origin of marriage?
2. What caused the shift from marriage as a way to make connections to marriage as a way to consolidate wealth?
Chapter Four:
1. What are the primary functions of marriage in the ancient world?
Chapter Five:
1. How was marriage and family structure different between Athens and Rome?
Chapter Six:
1. What does the phrase "the role of wives as 'peace weavers'" (p. 91) mean?
Chapter Seven:
1. Why does this chapter describe peasant marriages as a practical necessity?
2. Why were so many people involved in the decisions regarding marriage partners?
Chapter Eight:
1. Briefly, what was the difference between how Catholics and Protestants viewed marriage?
**2. Explain the circumstances behind the statement, "A harmonious, well-functioning marriage was a business necessity as well as a personal pleasure." (p. 128).