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Love And Marriage In Emma Goldman's 'Marriage And Love'

Good Essays

“Marriage and Love”, a short essay by Emma Goldman, gives a wonderful argument regarding love and marriage, in fact, she nails it. Marriage does not equal love or has anything nothing to do with it. Not only that, but the marriage could also easily kill whatever relationship was there prior to the declaration. Marriage is simply a social construct, one that imposes control by religion, tradition, and social opinion (Goldman 304). However, if marriage is such the ball and chain that we all joke about, then why do people get married?
To answer this question, a few assumptions must be done away with. Primarily the idea that love equals marriage. Or as Goldman had put it, “The popular notion about marriage and love is that they are synonymous… rests not on actual facts, but on superstition.” (Goldman 304). Marriage and love have little to nothing in common if, at all, marriage is simply a byproduct of love, an unnecessary one that at that. But if love does not equal marriage, can marriage equal love? Love can spring from a marriage where nothing before had grown, although it is quite rare, however, to say that it cannot happen would be a lie. However, it is also best to keep in mind that most marriages that have people committing without a spark or connection beforehand are usually arranged or even forced marriages.
If one does not require a marriage for their love to grow or even transpire, then why do it at all and for what purpose? With a look at “The Arranged Marriage” by

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