Thomas Hardys Views on Marriage Essay -- Biography Biographies Essays

Thomas robusts Views on MarriageThomas Hardy lived in a time when wedding slicey was the expected practice for unfledged work force and women. He had a very distinct view of the first appearance and the implications that came along with it. He himself was married twice in his long life, both(prenominal) times not very happily, and had progressive views about the union of the sexes, just about particularly regarding divorce. His ideas and opinions are not too carefully concealed in his literary works, though he contested that he kept his proclaim views out of his fiction. In order to understand Hardy and his views on marriage, we must(prenominal) first understand the time in which he lived. The straitlaced order held rigid views on marriage and the role of women in life. Most women regarded marriage as a fixed fact of nature. It was a fundamental part of their life plan, as was childbearing. In the mid-19th century, reproduction was considered a womans only level occupati on. On average, women of all classes married amidst the ages of 23 and 26, men amidst 25 and 30. Marriage and divorce legislation regulated the relations between men and women. During the 19th century there were great changes made to matrimonial law however, marriage laws still continued to grant more rights to men than to women. Under the common-law doctrine of couverture, when a woman married she at sea her independent legal personality as a femme sole (single woman) and became a femme couvert (covered woman). Men could divorce their wives solely on the grounds of adultery, but women were squeeze to show proof of cruelty, bigamy, incest, or bestiality along with infidelity. Husbands could beat to end their wives and get only a minimal prison sentence, but wives were considered pitiful for kill... ... should rule marriage. If two people have similar interests and work wellspring together, they should be united by marriage in order to venerate the physical pleasures of a r elationship in a socially satisfactory way. However, if two people should grow apart and be utterly silly with one another, Hardy believes that the practical course is separation and divorce. BibliographyChrist, Carol T., ed. The Norton Anthology of slope Literature The Victorian Age. V. 2b, 7th ed. New York W.W. Norton & Company, 2000. Millgate, Michael. Thomas Hardy A Biography. New York Random House, 1982. Mitchell, Sally, ed. Victorian Britain An Encyclopedia. New York Garland Publishing, Inc., 1988. Page, Norman, ed. Oxford Readers Companion to Hardy. Oxford Oxford University Press, 2000. Perkin, Joan. Victorian Women. New York New York University Press, 1993.