Marriage, a History: How Love Conquered MarriageJust when the clamor over "traditional" marriage couldn’t get any louder, along comes this groundbreaking book to ask, "What tradition?" In Marriage, a History, historian and marriage expert Stephanie Coontz takes readers from the marital intrigues of ancient Babylon to the torments of Victorian lovers to demonstrate how recent the idea of marrying for love is—and how absurd it would have seemed to most of our ancestors. It was when marriage moved into the emotional sphere in the nineteenth century, she argues, that it suffered as an institution just as it began to thrive as a personal relationship. This enlightening and hugely entertaining book brings intelligence, perspective, and wit to today’s marital debate. |
Contents
| 1 | |
| 10 | |
| 15 | |
The Many Meanings of Marriage | 24 |
The Invention of Marriage | 34 |
Soap Operas of the Ancient World | 53 |
Something Borrowed The Marital Legacy of | 70 |
Playing the Bishop Capturing the Queen Aristocratic | 88 |
From Yoke Mates to Soul Mates Emergence of the Love | 145 |
NineteenthCentury Europe and North America | 161 |
Victorian Marriage | 177 |
From Sentimental to Sexual Marriage | 196 |
Chapter | 216 |
at the End of the Twentieth Century | 263 |
Chapter | 281 |
Notes | 305 |
How the Other 95 Percent Wed Marriage Among | 104 |
Something Old Something New Western European | 123 |
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Common terms and phrases
alliances American ancient anthropologist argued aristocratic became behavior birth brother Cambridge University Press century B.C. chap Charlemagne Christian Church classes Cleopatra Cohabitation court Culture daughter divorce rates domestic dowry early economic emperor England European father female gender roles girl heir historian History household human Hunter-Gatherers husband and wife husbands and wives in-laws incest individuals inheritance Journal of Family Journal of Marriage Kathleen Kiernan kin groups king Kinship labor late lives Lothar marital Mark Antony Marriage and Family married couple mate Medieval modern mother Nancy Cott nineteenth century no-fault divorce nuclear family Oxford University Press parents partners peasant percent political polygamy relationship Revolution riage Roman romantic love Rome rulers rules same-sex same-sex marriage sexual sister social societies spouse Stephanie Coontz traditional United unmarried Victorian wedding Western Europe wives woman women wrote York young