Love in marriage

The reasons for marriage have changed through time, and will continue to as people adapt to the norms of that time. I believe people have married for love and still do, but there have been and are many other reasons. But at the same time people can still have love in their marriage even if there wasn't any in the beginning. Love grows, which brings to mind when I went to visit my family this break for the second time in my life. They are Pakistani and when I saw the couples I knew they were in love. Yet most of them I learned, had arranged marriages or a form of it. For my aunt and uncle, they had grown up together in Pakistan (though not all have that advantage of knowing the person) and eventually the parents talked and they were to be married. At first I thought that this was horrible, not to be able to pick the person you would be with for the rest of your life. But after finding out that most of my family on my dad's side had arranged marriages, and that they seem so in love, maybe its not that bad. (not that I would want that though!) In Pride and Prejudice, I believe maybe that is the case with some of the couples, that they knew each other (or not) but that either way they grew to love each other over the years. On page 23 Charlotte kind of implies this when she is talking about Jane and Mr. Bingley, "when she is secure of him, there will be leisure for falling in love as much as she chuses."

On another note, I think that they have a weird take on "falling in love" or just love in general because they talk about love a lot but when you know someone for a short time like Charlotte and Mr. Collins and agree to marry, I don't think they really were in love. But maybe a lot of the couples in that time only like each other or just tolerate each other until they are married for a while and eventually grow to love each other, which along with their "duties" of that time completed would seem like a great marriage.