Arranged Marriage: Difference between revisions

 

The choosing process can work in several different ways:

** In some cultures, the marriage could go through without the bride's consent. In others (such as Christian Europe), the marriage required the consent of both parties--but in lands where fathers had near-unlimited power over their children (especially their daughters), it was easy enough to force such "consent".

* 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.

* In ''Sweeney Todd'' fanfiction (yes, it exists), Benjamin and Lucy Barker are sometimes said to have had an arranged marriage, which is odd as (a) arranged marriages were nearly kaput by the nineteenth century, (b) it seems unlikely that Lucy's parents would aim no higher than a barber, and (c) the way the man who used to be Benjamin remembers Lucy gives every indication of it having been a love match. Of course, the arranged marriage is often used to undermine their marriage in a case of [[Die for Our Ship]].

* ''[[Star Trek Deep Space Nine (TV)|Star Trek Deep Space Nine]]'' [[Fanon]] has an arrangement called ''j'fallen'' in the Trill culture. The Symbiosis Board itself occasionally sets up two Joined Trills for marriage on the justification that their children will be of better stock and more likely to be among the Joined elite of the society. How well it works [[Depends On The Author]].

** Confirmed, and Kyon and Tsuruya now realize. They're not too happy.

*** Unlike most examples however, the main reason they are not happy is that they both realize what will happen when {{spoiler|[[Reality Warper|Haruhi]]}} finds out. Turns out, she isn't near as angry as they thought she would be and {{spoiler|Kyon and Tsuruya}} come to terms with their engagement.

* Some fanfics of ''[[The Legend of Zelda (Franchise)|The Legend of Zelda]]'' use the concept in various ways. Those who like the Link/Zelda pairing may use it to get them together, such as having him be the long-lost prince of another country or having him save her from an arranged marriage she doesn't want. Those who prefer other pairings may use it as a way of ensuring that Zelda is taken out of the pool of available persons.

* There's a complicated example in ''[[Through a Looking Glass Darkly (Fanfic)|Through a Looking Glass Darkly]]'': {{spoiler|Jack was genuinely in love with Grace. Then his parents brainwashed her into being someone more suitable. By the time we catch up to them, he's given up on getting the girl he fell in love with back, and considers his engagement with her to be purely politcal and arranged by his parents.}}

* In the ''[[Code Geass (Anime)|Code Geass]]'' Fanfic ''[[Dauntless (Fanfic)|Dauntless]]'', {{spoiler|Lelouch is forced into one with a noble girl named Abigail after being discovered and brought back into the Royal Family.}} [[Rich Bitch|Surprisingly]], she ends up turning into quite the [[Ensemble Darkhorse]].

** So he's handsome, rich, nice and she likes him a lot, and he wants to marry her but she is ''not'' certain she should marry him? [[What an Idiot!]]. On the other hand if she has feelings for Evan....

* Season 9 of ''[[Degrassi]]:The Next Generation'' introduced an Arranged Marriage plot for Sav Bhandari. His traditional Indian parents arrange a girl to come meet him from India, who competes with his white-Canadian girlfriend Anya. {{spoiler|Anya has sex with Sav in the limo to try and keep him, resulting in a teen-pregnancy-scare plot.}}

* An episode of ''[[Chuck]]'' includes a sub-plot where Lester (an Indian Jew) is pressured to marry a girl from his hometown. When he tells it to Big Mike, Big Mike assumes this is because he is Indian. However, Lester's parents are from Saskatchewan, Canada. Apparently, their culture is a mix of Canadian, Jewish, and Indian culture, which is shown when Lester sets up a "traditional" den at the Buy More, which is a mix of both cultures, with Lester himself wearing an Indian robe and a fur hat. The girl is also from a Canadian-Jewish-Indian "Hinjew" family, whose parents are pressuring her to marry Lester. She is initially put off by his "traditional" exhibit, but he reveals that he just did this to impress her. She warms to him a little... until he puts her on the spot and sings to her. Embarassed, she leaves, calling off the wedding.

* ''[[Young Blades (TV)|Young Blades]]'': An arranged political marriage between King Louis XIV and the princess of a newly rich kingdom drives the plot of "The Girl from Upper Gaborski." The princess whines and complains about it for the whole episode, leading to this bit of marital advice:

'''Duke.''' ''Consider his extreme youth and forgive him.'' }}

* [[Shakespeare|Shakespearean]] examples:

{{quote| '''Juliet''': ''Is there no pity sitting in the clouds<br />

That sees into the bottom of my grief?<br />

** ''[[Sleeping Beauty (Disney)|Sleeping Beauty]]'' had an Arranged Marriage between Princess Aurora and Prince Philip from different kingdoms. In contrast to the prevailing modern view of Arranged Marriages as loveless, Aurora falls in love with Philip before she discovers that he's her betrothed husband, making the Arranged Marriage one of true love.

** In ''[[The Lion King]]'', Simba and Nala are betrothed, much to their confusion ("I can't marry her -- she's my friend!" "Yeah, it'd be so weird..").

* In ''[[The Swan Princess]]'', Derek and Odette are betrothed as children by their parents, and forced to spent every summer together. This leads to a musical montage of them growing up hating each other, until one summer (having grown up), they realise that they've actually fallen in love.

* An episode of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' followed Apu attempting to dodge an arranged marriage by [[The Beard|claiming to already be married]]. After sufficient hilarity ensues, the ruse is discovered and the wedding goes forward over Apu's objections. However, his bride Manjula turns out to be a good match for him, and they remained happily married until they had 8 kids. Their marriage pretty much derailed from there.

** It's possible that Charles Windsor and Diana Spencer's marriage was this, leading to a real-life example of [[Unwanted Spouse]].

* Arranged marriages were fairly common right up to the 20th century in many western countries and still fairly common in African, Middle Eastern and Asian countries even today.

** While that may have been true for the First Generation of the Unification Church, the children of those marriages now adhere to the more "traditional arranged marriages" mentioned above, with the matching being done by the parents. Interestingly, there's a whole sort of ideology behind it, where the parents should marry their children for lifelong "true" love. This means that they look for someone who is [[Opposites Attract|opposite of, and therefore complements their child]]. The hope is that they will personally grow into a better person, ''and'' grow in love. After doing a sort of courtship, the couple can decide whether they fit. Personal experience says it seems to work pretty well, although it helps that a [[Wide Eyed Idealist|lot of them really]] [[Clap Your Hands If You Believe|believe in it]]. Ironically, there is still a large percentage that would rather be married by the Reverend Moon, and some who do not trust their parents/church enough to do either.]

* Some [[The Fundamentalist|very conservative Christian groups]] practice "betrothal," meaning that they believe fathers have the authority to determine who their adult children marry via [[Arranged Marriage]] or [[Parental Marriage Veto]]. Most other Christians maintain that, even when taken literally, ''[[The Bible (Literature)|The Bible]]'' actually teaches the opposite. (An example of the latter view can be found in [http://www.ericpazdziora.com/writing/the-bondage-of-betrothal/ this article.])

[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]

[[Category:Arranged Marriage]]