Tuesday, September 6, 2011

The Sanctity of Marriage (Otherwise known as the Hypocritical Oath)

"The landlord of the lodging, who had heard that they were a queer couple, had doubted if they were married at all, especially as he had seen Arabella kiss Jude one evening when she had taken a little cordial; and he was about to give them notice to quit, till by chance overhearing her one night haranguing Jude in rattling terms, and ultimately flinging a shoe at his head, he recognized the note of genuine wedlock; and concluding that they must be respectable, said no more."

Jude the Obscure, Thomas Hardy pp. 480-1.

and...

"Jude, do you think that when you must have me with you by law, we shall be so happy as we are now? [...] Don't you dread the attitude that insensibly arises out of legal obligation? Don't you think it is destructive to a passion whose essence is its gratuitousness?"

p338.

3 comments:

  1. That would take me so long to translate! I am going with "Marriage just makes a legal obligation out of love and therefore diminishes its niceness"
    am I right?

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  2. You got it in one.
    The ownership is what bothers me most of all.
    I like the idea of commitment and loyalty etc but I don't think that marriage helps the heart do its thang, well at least not the way that I got married.
    I really quite despise the certificate, the ceremony, the obligation. I will do something about it one of these days... not quite yet.

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