Has Marriage for Love Failed?

Nonfiction, Health & Well Being, Psychology, Family Therapy
Cover of the book Has Marriage for Love Failed? by Pascal Bruckner, Wiley
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Pascal Bruckner ISBN: 9780745683836
Publisher: Wiley Publication: October 29, 2013
Imprint: Polity Language: English
Author: Pascal Bruckner
ISBN: 9780745683836
Publisher: Wiley
Publication: October 29, 2013
Imprint: Polity
Language: English

Today we like to think that marriage is a free choice based on love: that we freely choose whom to marry and that we do so, not so much for survival or social advantage, but for love. The invention of marriage for love inverted the old relationship between love and marriage. In the past, marriage was sacred, and love, if it existed at all, was a consequence of marriage; today, love is sacred and marriage is secondary. But now marriage appears to be becoming increasingly superfluous. For the past forty years or so, the number of weddings has been declining, the number of divorces exploding and the number of unmarried individuals and couples growing, while single-parent families are becoming more numerous. Love has triumphed over marriage but now it is destroying it from inside. So has the ideal of marriage for love failed, and has love finally been liberated from the shackles of marriage?

In this brilliant and provocative book Pascal Bruckner argues that the old tension between love and marriage has not been resolved in favour of love, it has simply been displaced onto other levels. Even if it seems more straightforward, the contemporary landscape of love is far from euphoric: as in the past, infidelity, loss and betrayal are central to the plots of modern love, and the disenchantment is all the greater because marriages are voluntary and not imposed. But the collapse of the ideal of marriage for love is not necessarily a cause for remorse, because it demonstrates that love retains its subversive power. Love is not a glue to be put in the service of the institution of marriage: it is an explosive that blows up in our faces, dynamite pure and simple.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Today we like to think that marriage is a free choice based on love: that we freely choose whom to marry and that we do so, not so much for survival or social advantage, but for love. The invention of marriage for love inverted the old relationship between love and marriage. In the past, marriage was sacred, and love, if it existed at all, was a consequence of marriage; today, love is sacred and marriage is secondary. But now marriage appears to be becoming increasingly superfluous. For the past forty years or so, the number of weddings has been declining, the number of divorces exploding and the number of unmarried individuals and couples growing, while single-parent families are becoming more numerous. Love has triumphed over marriage but now it is destroying it from inside. So has the ideal of marriage for love failed, and has love finally been liberated from the shackles of marriage?

In this brilliant and provocative book Pascal Bruckner argues that the old tension between love and marriage has not been resolved in favour of love, it has simply been displaced onto other levels. Even if it seems more straightforward, the contemporary landscape of love is far from euphoric: as in the past, infidelity, loss and betrayal are central to the plots of modern love, and the disenchantment is all the greater because marriages are voluntary and not imposed. But the collapse of the ideal of marriage for love is not necessarily a cause for remorse, because it demonstrates that love retains its subversive power. Love is not a glue to be put in the service of the institution of marriage: it is an explosive that blows up in our faces, dynamite pure and simple.

More books from Wiley

Cover of the book Mehr als Sonne, Wind und Wasser by Pascal Bruckner
Cover of the book Gender in History by Pascal Bruckner
Cover of the book Nikon D40 / D40x Digital Field Guide by Pascal Bruckner
Cover of the book The Reality-Based Rules of the Workplace by Pascal Bruckner
Cover of the book A History of the Cuban Revolution by Pascal Bruckner
Cover of the book Integrating Green Chemistry and Sustainable Engineering by Pascal Bruckner
Cover of the book Marketing Your Retail Store in the Internet Age by Pascal Bruckner
Cover of the book Critical Thinking in Clinical Practice by Pascal Bruckner
Cover of the book Yoga All-In-One For Dummies by Pascal Bruckner
Cover of the book Silos, Politics and Turf Wars by Pascal Bruckner
Cover of the book Creating a Sense of Presence in Online Teaching by Pascal Bruckner
Cover of the book Obstetrics and Gynaecology by Pascal Bruckner
Cover of the book Emotionally Intelligent Leadership by Pascal Bruckner
Cover of the book Lecture Notes: Dermatology by Pascal Bruckner
Cover of the book Maintaining and Repairing Old and Historic Buildings by Pascal Bruckner
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy