The State of Marriage...

Here I am, the day before Thanksgiving, writing all these blogs. I know this wasn't supposed to happen this way but it's too late to change things now. When discussing Mrs. Warren's Profession in class, the issue was brought up of the difference between prostitution and marriage. In Mrs. Warren's eyes, they are exactly the same thing with marriage even being slightly worse. This is also the way Mary Wollenstonecraft viewed marriage. When you look at the time period, marriage had become a very hypocritical institution. Marriages were often arranged based on money and physical appearance. Women were simply trophies. Men were allowed, even expected to have affairs as long as they were kept secret.

With this view and state of marriage in mind, it is easy to see how it would be comparable to prostitution except with less profit, in the capitalist mind. Married women made money and earned financial security through marriage, without love most of the time, and prostitutes made money and earned a degree of financial security through selling themselves, all with no love. With this parallel drawn, Wollenstonecraft and Mrs. Warren's belief is seemingly true.

However, when we look in the light of God's Word, as we always should, we see marriage as a union sacred to God because it is a picture of His Son's love relationship with the church. This is what marriage was meant to be not a facade, not a safety net, not just something expected. This is where marriage is different from prostitution. So, no, Wollenstonecraft and Mrs. Warren got it wrong. But, so, did all those who bought into the superficial system of marriage that was prevalent in that day.