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Arranged Marriage: Difference between revisions
bolding titles, though I wonder if omiai should be separate, or part of The Matchmaker instead.
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(bolding titles, though I wonder if omiai should be separate, or part of The Matchmaker instead.) |
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{{quote|''We who are of [[Blue Blood|noble blood]] may not follow the wishes of our hearts.''|'''[[Talkative Loon|Jane Olsen]]''', ''[[The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari]]''}}
An '''Arranged Marriage''' is, quite simply, the idea that someone is going to choose your spouse for you.
The choosing process can work in several different ways:
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* In less restrictive ''traditional arranged marriages'', parents may choose their children's respective spouse with input from said children and without the caveat that they have to accept a potential match unconditionally -- although the children may be heavily pressured to do so if such a match is especially favorable.
* Voluntarily, one can hire a [[The Matchmaker|matchmaker]] (or sign up for an online matchmaking service), which will pair the prospective bride or groom with a large list of potential suitors with whom they can freely choose to pursue relationships. These kinds of "no-strings" arrangements are far more popular in Western nations, although those who use dating services may not want to freely admit doing so, since the stereotype is that only workaholics or the socially inept would actually have a ''need'' to do so.
* In Japan, the ancient custom of '''omiai''' is a means by which suitable couples are formally introduced to each other by their parents, who sometimes employ a professional [[The Matchmaker|matchmaker]]. Meetings between potential mates are often stiff, formal affairs conducted in expensive tea shops or hotels with the parents of the couple present. (Needless to say, such meetings can be a source of tremendous tension for all involved participants.) In pre-war Japan, arranged marriages were common, a lot more restrictive as far as choice was concerned, and popular among the Samurai Class as a way of cementing familial alliances. In modern times, the heads of rich, high-class corporation-owning families can choose to bind their children to each other in a similarly restrictive way to form powerful economic alliances. There is little the prospective bride and groom can do to get out of such arrangements [[Pillars of Moral Character|without causing considerable embarrassment and social turmoil in their own family]]. (Needless to say, many [[Anime]] series will milk this sort of thing for all it's dramatic and/or comic worth.)
* In the Middle East and South Asia, a more relaxed form of ''omiai'' is practiced: the parents' expectation that their children marry is more hinted at than stated, as it is generally disguised as simply inviting "a nice family" or "a good young lady/man from a good family" over for tea or lunch/dinner. The hope is that [[Perfectly Arranged Marriage|the prospects will like each other anyway]], but occasionally the intended courters can feel pressure if circumstances (money, family honor, social standing, in some cases politics, or the embarrassment of having [[Christmas Cake|an unmarried child--especially a daughter--that age]]) get in the way. Also different from ''omiai'' is that it is ''not'' a formal introduction, since the families are frequently friends, and occasionally even [[Kissing Cousins|relatives]] (an old saying in the Middle East to a woman who has been having trouble getting married is, "well, there's always your cousin"). This custom also exists among Ashkenazi Orthodox Jews (non-Ashkenazi ones are generally culturally Middle Eastern in the first place), although going through a matchmaker is more common.
* Sometimes the ''villain'' (commonly a [[Lawful Evil]] villain) may attempt to [[And Now You Must Marry Me|"arrange" a marriage between himself and the heroine/the hero's love interest]]. If it is questionable whether the fiance is actually a hero or a villain, the arranged marriage will often take the shape of payment of a debt from the heroine's family to the fiance or fiance's family. Then part of a plot will be a mystery where the heroine struggles to figure out whether the fiance's motives are at root noble or nefarious; a more stubborn, action-oriented heroine may spend a lot of time trying (and failing) to pay that debt before even noticing that the fiance might actually be worth marrying. In more extreme versions the heroine may be a captive or a slave who becomes the legal property of the 'fiance'; again, plucky heroines may spend a whole plot arc trying to escape or earn their freedom before considering whether they actually want to escape. The hero's trust issues become a lot more noticeable in this variant when he is afraid not just of her choosing a rival or running away, but of actually killing him. Generally the conflict cannot be resolved until the heroine finally gets to a position of freedom or power, then has to use it to support or outright rescue the fiance.
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