Göran Lind
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195366815
- eISBN:
- 9780199867837
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195366815.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Family Law
This book is a comprehensive analysis of common law marriage. Part I provides a cultural and historical history of the subject, from Ancient Roman Law to Medieval Canon Law, and analyzes the ...
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This book is a comprehensive analysis of common law marriage. Part I provides a cultural and historical history of the subject, from Ancient Roman Law to Medieval Canon Law, and analyzes the reception of the doctrine in the United States. The current law concerning common law marriage is extremely complex and uncertain. By analyzing more than 2,000 American cases, Part II of the book is intended to be a legal guide for courts, public authorities and law firms dealing with common law marriage cases. It discusses the legal requirements for the establishment of a common law marriage as to capacity, contract, implied agreement, cohabitation and holding out, burdens of proof, and presumptions. Choice of law rules in all American jurisdictions are analyzed. One of the greatest challenges that family law today faces in the Western World is the decreasing rate of marriage and the increasing number of unmarried cohabiting couples. Part III conducts from historical, comparative, and sociological perspectives a legal policy discussion concerning the future of common law marriage and the modern cohabitation law. It contains a comparison of both the judicial and legislative developments in the United States, Northern and Western Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. With no predetermined agenda or bias, arguments are presented and discussed to give legislators and policymakers a basis for their considerations. Different legal constructions are discussed and a new model of marriage is presented.Less
This book is a comprehensive analysis of common law marriage. Part I provides a cultural and historical history of the subject, from Ancient Roman Law to Medieval Canon Law, and analyzes the reception of the doctrine in the United States. The current law concerning common law marriage is extremely complex and uncertain. By analyzing more than 2,000 American cases, Part II of the book is intended to be a legal guide for courts, public authorities and law firms dealing with common law marriage cases. It discusses the legal requirements for the establishment of a common law marriage as to capacity, contract, implied agreement, cohabitation and holding out, burdens of proof, and presumptions. Choice of law rules in all American jurisdictions are analyzed. One of the greatest challenges that family law today faces in the Western World is the decreasing rate of marriage and the increasing number of unmarried cohabiting couples. Part III conducts from historical, comparative, and sociological perspectives a legal policy discussion concerning the future of common law marriage and the modern cohabitation law. It contains a comparison of both the judicial and legislative developments in the United States, Northern and Western Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. With no predetermined agenda or bias, arguments are presented and discussed to give legislators and policymakers a basis for their considerations. Different legal constructions are discussed and a new model of marriage is presented.
Göran Lind
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195366815
- eISBN:
- 9780199867837
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195366815.003.0010
- Subject:
- Law, Family Law
This chapter examines how the conflict of laws principles are applied to the issue of whether a common law marriage has been established between parties with connections to states other than the ...
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This chapter examines how the conflict of laws principles are applied to the issue of whether a common law marriage has been established between parties with connections to states other than the common law state, through domicile, residence, or in another manner. Courts and governmental authorities in all of the states within the United States and many foreign countries may have to determine whether such a marriage has been established between a man and a woman who previously had been domiciled in a common law marriage state. In addition, a formless marriage can be established during a short visit by a cohabiting couple to a common law marriage state, even if they do not reside in one. This chapter further examines how the substantive law of common law marriage states is applied.Less
This chapter examines how the conflict of laws principles are applied to the issue of whether a common law marriage has been established between parties with connections to states other than the common law state, through domicile, residence, or in another manner. Courts and governmental authorities in all of the states within the United States and many foreign countries may have to determine whether such a marriage has been established between a man and a woman who previously had been domiciled in a common law marriage state. In addition, a formless marriage can be established during a short visit by a cohabiting couple to a common law marriage state, even if they do not reside in one. This chapter further examines how the substantive law of common law marriage states is applied.
Göran Lind
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195366815
- eISBN:
- 9780199867837
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195366815.003.0014
- Subject:
- Law, Family Law
This chapter, addressed primarily to legislative bodies considering repealing or enacting common law marriage or other cohabitation legislation, discusses the reasons that support these legal ...
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This chapter, addressed primarily to legislative bodies considering repealing or enacting common law marriage or other cohabitation legislation, discusses the reasons that support these legal solutions and considers which may be relevant in the future. It attempts to objectively present and critically examine the arguments both for and against common law marriage and other cohabitation legislation, primarily for the purpose of giving legislators and policymakers a basis for future assessments.Less
This chapter, addressed primarily to legislative bodies considering repealing or enacting common law marriage or other cohabitation legislation, discusses the reasons that support these legal solutions and considers which may be relevant in the future. It attempts to objectively present and critically examine the arguments both for and against common law marriage and other cohabitation legislation, primarily for the purpose of giving legislators and policymakers a basis for future assessments.
Göran Lind
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195366815
- eISBN:
- 9780199867837
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195366815.003.0007
- Subject:
- Law, Family Law
This chapter focuses on several aspects concerning inferred agreements in relation to marriage contracts. Section 7.2 addresses the reasons for accepting inferred agreements, with the establishment ...
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This chapter focuses on several aspects concerning inferred agreements in relation to marriage contracts. Section 7.2 addresses the reasons for accepting inferred agreements, with the establishment of a common law marriage. Section 7.3 considers the development of the law with respect to inferred agreements during the 1800s and 1900s. Section 7.4 addresses the status of inferred agreements today. Thereafter, a presentation concerning the most common evidentiary facts cited as support for inferred agreements is provided in Section 7.5. The courts's reasonings in a number of cases are further discussed in order to explore how the facts cited are used in the finding of the existence of an inferred marriage contract in Section 7.6 as well as the reasonings given in the cases in which no contract was found proven, as discussed in Section 7.7. The chapter ends with a summary and conclusions as to the present status of the law with respect to inferred agreements.Less
This chapter focuses on several aspects concerning inferred agreements in relation to marriage contracts. Section 7.2 addresses the reasons for accepting inferred agreements, with the establishment of a common law marriage. Section 7.3 considers the development of the law with respect to inferred agreements during the 1800s and 1900s. Section 7.4 addresses the status of inferred agreements today. Thereafter, a presentation concerning the most common evidentiary facts cited as support for inferred agreements is provided in Section 7.5. The courts's reasonings in a number of cases are further discussed in order to explore how the facts cited are used in the finding of the existence of an inferred marriage contract in Section 7.6 as well as the reasonings given in the cases in which no contract was found proven, as discussed in Section 7.7. The chapter ends with a summary and conclusions as to the present status of the law with respect to inferred agreements.
Joanna L. Grossman and Lawrence M. Friedman
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691149820
- eISBN:
- 9781400839773
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691149820.003.0004
- Subject:
- Law, Family Law
This chapter describes the adventures—and the decline and fall—of the doctrine of common-law marriage in the twentieth century. A common-law marriage was an informal, but perfectly legal, marriage. ...
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This chapter describes the adventures—and the decline and fall—of the doctrine of common-law marriage in the twentieth century. A common-law marriage was an informal, but perfectly legal, marriage. If a man and woman agreed with each other to be husband and wife, then, from that moment on, they were husband and wife, without a marriage license, a judge or clergyman, witnesses, or anything else. A series of court decisions, in the first half of the nineteenth century, established the doctrine in most of the states. The chapter looks at the social factors which led to the decline of the common-law marriage.Less
This chapter describes the adventures—and the decline and fall—of the doctrine of common-law marriage in the twentieth century. A common-law marriage was an informal, but perfectly legal, marriage. If a man and woman agreed with each other to be husband and wife, then, from that moment on, they were husband and wife, without a marriage license, a judge or clergyman, witnesses, or anything else. A series of court decisions, in the first half of the nineteenth century, established the doctrine in most of the states. The chapter looks at the social factors which led to the decline of the common-law marriage.
Göran Lind
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195366815
- eISBN:
- 9780199867837
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195366815.003.0013
- Subject:
- Law, Family Law
This chapter focuses on a critical discussion concerning the different constructions of the constitutive elements and presumptions applicable in the establishment of a common law marriage and a ...
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This chapter focuses on a critical discussion concerning the different constructions of the constitutive elements and presumptions applicable in the establishment of a common law marriage and a legally recognized cohabitation. This discussion is appropriate for two reasons. First, common law marriage, as a rule, has been accepted in the case law and, as a result, such discussion has seldom occurred. Second, solutions have been presented during the past thirty years in the cohabitation laws in the Western world. The chapter is directed primarily at lawmakers considering whether to recognize common law marriage or cohabitation.Less
This chapter focuses on a critical discussion concerning the different constructions of the constitutive elements and presumptions applicable in the establishment of a common law marriage and a legally recognized cohabitation. This discussion is appropriate for two reasons. First, common law marriage, as a rule, has been accepted in the case law and, as a result, such discussion has seldom occurred. Second, solutions have been presented during the past thirty years in the cohabitation laws in the Western world. The chapter is directed primarily at lawmakers considering whether to recognize common law marriage or cohabitation.
Elizabeth Brake
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199774142
- eISBN:
- 9780199933228
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199774142.003.0008
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Feminist Philosophy
Chapter 7 takes up the challenges of the preceding chapters by providing a strong rationale for a reformed marriage law. This proposal, ‘minimal marriage’, is a legal framework which avoids ...
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Chapter 7 takes up the challenges of the preceding chapters by providing a strong rationale for a reformed marriage law. This proposal, ‘minimal marriage’, is a legal framework which avoids amatonormativity, supporting all adult care networks. It allows individuals to select from a minimal set of the rights and responsibilities currently exchanged in marriage and assign them to whomever they want, so long as the purpose is to support a caring relationship. Political liberalism requires the disestablishment of monogamous amatonormative marriage. Under the constraints of public reason, restrictions on marriage should be minimized. But public reason can provide a strong, neutral rationale for minimal marriage: care is a primary good, in Rawlsian terminology, making legal frameworks for adult care networks not only consistent with neutrality and public reason, but required as a matter of justice. Thus, my argument opposes the abolition of marriage.Less
Chapter 7 takes up the challenges of the preceding chapters by providing a strong rationale for a reformed marriage law. This proposal, ‘minimal marriage’, is a legal framework which avoids amatonormativity, supporting all adult care networks. It allows individuals to select from a minimal set of the rights and responsibilities currently exchanged in marriage and assign them to whomever they want, so long as the purpose is to support a caring relationship. Political liberalism requires the disestablishment of monogamous amatonormative marriage. Under the constraints of public reason, restrictions on marriage should be minimized. But public reason can provide a strong, neutral rationale for minimal marriage: care is a primary good, in Rawlsian terminology, making legal frameworks for adult care networks not only consistent with neutrality and public reason, but required as a matter of justice. Thus, my argument opposes the abolition of marriage.
Göran Lind
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195366815
- eISBN:
- 9780199867837
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195366815.003.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Family Law
This chapter begins with a discussion of common law marriage in American law, including its definition, jurisdictions that recognize common law marriage, and the need for more in-depth legal ...
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This chapter begins with a discussion of common law marriage in American law, including its definition, jurisdictions that recognize common law marriage, and the need for more in-depth legal discourse. An overview of the subsequent chapters is presented.Less
This chapter begins with a discussion of common law marriage in American law, including its definition, jurisdictions that recognize common law marriage, and the need for more in-depth legal discourse. An overview of the subsequent chapters is presented.
William Cornish
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199239757
- eISBN:
- 9780191705151
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199239757.003.0024
- Subject:
- Law, Legal History
This chapter on marriage in the 19th century covers the values of marriage, the capacity to marry and nullification, the prohibited degrees of marital relationship, pre-contracts and religious ...
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This chapter on marriage in the 19th century covers the values of marriage, the capacity to marry and nullification, the prohibited degrees of marital relationship, pre-contracts and religious ceremony, and forms for the solemnization of marriage.Less
This chapter on marriage in the 19th century covers the values of marriage, the capacity to marry and nullification, the prohibited degrees of marital relationship, pre-contracts and religious ceremony, and forms for the solemnization of marriage.
Christopher N. L. Brooke
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198205043
- eISBN:
- 9780191676468
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205043.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History, History of Ideas
This chapter discusses marriage practices in France particularly among nobility and royalty during the 11th and 12th century. It looks also at the seeming indifference and lack of control of the ...
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This chapter discusses marriage practices in France particularly among nobility and royalty during the 11th and 12th century. It looks also at the seeming indifference and lack of control of the clergy and the Church in the increasing number of divorces, polygamy, and incestuous marriage of French nobels. Although political conflict, domestic discord, and the need for male heirs were the underlying reason for a number of marriages between members of the French nobility, their need for legitimate heirs made them seek monogamy hence paving the way for the Church to strengthen the quest for monogamy. The grounds for marriage and annulment as well as the ceremonies of marriage were penned by the Church as well. The chapter also focuses on the ecclesiastical model of marriage and the law governing matrimony. Included are several case studies that point out how marriage law came in practice and came into action in the lives of a group of well recorded families and communities. The chapter looks at the lives of Christina of Markyate, Mabel de Francheville, and Richard of Anstey and Henry VIII. The chapter concludes with Alexander III's marriage decrees.Less
This chapter discusses marriage practices in France particularly among nobility and royalty during the 11th and 12th century. It looks also at the seeming indifference and lack of control of the clergy and the Church in the increasing number of divorces, polygamy, and incestuous marriage of French nobels. Although political conflict, domestic discord, and the need for male heirs were the underlying reason for a number of marriages between members of the French nobility, their need for legitimate heirs made them seek monogamy hence paving the way for the Church to strengthen the quest for monogamy. The grounds for marriage and annulment as well as the ceremonies of marriage were penned by the Church as well. The chapter also focuses on the ecclesiastical model of marriage and the law governing matrimony. Included are several case studies that point out how marriage law came in practice and came into action in the lives of a group of well recorded families and communities. The chapter looks at the lives of Christina of Markyate, Mabel de Francheville, and Richard of Anstey and Henry VIII. The chapter concludes with Alexander III's marriage decrees.
Leslie Tuttle
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195381603
- eISBN:
- 9780199870295
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195381603.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, European Early Modern History, Political History
The 1666 pronatalist Edict on Marriage was formulated by Jean‐Baptiste Colbert and hand‐picked advisors from the Council of Justice, a group of royal legal advisors who met from 1665 through the ...
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The 1666 pronatalist Edict on Marriage was formulated by Jean‐Baptiste Colbert and hand‐picked advisors from the Council of Justice, a group of royal legal advisors who met from 1665 through the early 1670s to reform French law and legal procedure. Their plan to encourage marriage and prolific procreation combined jurists' conviction that patriarchal households were the foundation of social and political order with their understanding of the ways French fathers limited fertility in service to broader family social and ecoomic strategies. The pronatalist plan was originally connected to a plan to discourage celibacy by raising the age of legal majority for making religious professions; it proved so controversial that the royal government was forced to withdraw it. The efforts of Louis XIV's government to intervene in family strategies reveals the deep politicization of questions of marriage, celibacy and fertility in Old Regime France.Less
The 1666 pronatalist Edict on Marriage was formulated by Jean‐Baptiste Colbert and hand‐picked advisors from the Council of Justice, a group of royal legal advisors who met from 1665 through the early 1670s to reform French law and legal procedure. Their plan to encourage marriage and prolific procreation combined jurists' conviction that patriarchal households were the foundation of social and political order with their understanding of the ways French fathers limited fertility in service to broader family social and ecoomic strategies. The pronatalist plan was originally connected to a plan to discourage celibacy by raising the age of legal majority for making religious professions; it proved so controversial that the royal government was forced to withdraw it. The efforts of Louis XIV's government to intervene in family strategies reveals the deep politicization of questions of marriage, celibacy and fertility in Old Regime France.
Göran Lind
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195366815
- eISBN:
- 9780199867837
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195366815.003.0015
- Subject:
- Law, Family Law
This chapter focuses on a new model of formal marriage, one that avoids the problems of cohabitation legislation, and can be attractive to couples who will be starting families in the future as well ...
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This chapter focuses on a new model of formal marriage, one that avoids the problems of cohabitation legislation, and can be attractive to couples who will be starting families in the future as well as to the state in its capacity as the third party to the marriage contract. The objective is to change the perspective by focusing on formal marriage and to initiate a debate concerning an alternative solution to the legal developments in the Western world since the 1970s.Less
This chapter focuses on a new model of formal marriage, one that avoids the problems of cohabitation legislation, and can be attractive to couples who will be starting families in the future as well as to the state in its capacity as the third party to the marriage contract. The objective is to change the perspective by focusing on formal marriage and to initiate a debate concerning an alternative solution to the legal developments in the Western world since the 1970s.
Gail Hershatter
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520267701
- eISBN:
- 9780520950344
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520267701.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
This chapter focuses on the political activities of rural Chinese women during the 1950s. It re-examines the party-state campaign for marriage reform initiated by the Marriage Law. It discusses the ...
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This chapter focuses on the political activities of rural Chinese women during the 1950s. It re-examines the party-state campaign for marriage reform initiated by the Marriage Law. It discusses the appeal of activism to these young women; the reconfiguration of village space they helped to effect through song, dance, and attendance at meetings; their investments in the Marriage Law campaign that often left their own household arrangements untouched; and the painful decisions to divorce taken by a small minority of women.Less
This chapter focuses on the political activities of rural Chinese women during the 1950s. It re-examines the party-state campaign for marriage reform initiated by the Marriage Law. It discusses the appeal of activism to these young women; the reconfiguration of village space they helped to effect through song, dance, and attendance at meetings; their investments in the Marriage Law campaign that often left their own household arrangements untouched; and the painful decisions to divorce taken by a small minority of women.
Elizabeth Price Foley
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300109832
- eISBN:
- 9780300134995
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300109832.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, Social History
Laws relating to marriage illustrate the tension between individual privacy and public morality. There are many different laws that limit when, how, and to whom a person may be married. This chapter ...
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Laws relating to marriage illustrate the tension between individual privacy and public morality. There are many different laws that limit when, how, and to whom a person may be married. This chapter shows that a lot of marriage laws are based solely on public morality and hence illegitimately restrict individual liberty, but argues that some marriage laws may be consistent with the morality of American law because they are intended to prevent harm to others. Before considering how legitimate marriage laws differ from illegitimate ones, it explores what exactly “marriage” is. More specifically, the chapter discusses the nature of civil marriage and how it differs from religious marriage, marriage as the exclusive means to lawful cohabitation with another person, and same-sex marriage. It also looks at how the morality of American law applies to same-sex marriage, adultery, polygamy, and incest.Less
Laws relating to marriage illustrate the tension between individual privacy and public morality. There are many different laws that limit when, how, and to whom a person may be married. This chapter shows that a lot of marriage laws are based solely on public morality and hence illegitimately restrict individual liberty, but argues that some marriage laws may be consistent with the morality of American law because they are intended to prevent harm to others. Before considering how legitimate marriage laws differ from illegitimate ones, it explores what exactly “marriage” is. More specifically, the chapter discusses the nature of civil marriage and how it differs from religious marriage, marriage as the exclusive means to lawful cohabitation with another person, and same-sex marriage. It also looks at how the morality of American law applies to same-sex marriage, adultery, polygamy, and incest.
Lawrence Stone
- Published in print:
- 1990
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198226512
- eISBN:
- 9780191678646
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198226512.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History, Social History
This chapter discusses the law and custom of marriage. The second section discusses modes of courtship. There were three modes of courtship in early modern England, each of which was characteristic ...
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This chapter discusses the law and custom of marriage. The second section discusses modes of courtship. There were three modes of courtship in early modern England, each of which was characteristic to one of three groupings that divided the population. The third section looks at customary unions and concubinage. Some scholars of the family believe that in the early modern period, more especially in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, considerable numbers of English men and women lived in a condition of customary concubinage, illegal according to the law of church or state but recognised by the neighbourhood.Less
This chapter discusses the law and custom of marriage. The second section discusses modes of courtship. There were three modes of courtship in early modern England, each of which was characteristic to one of three groupings that divided the population. The third section looks at customary unions and concubinage. Some scholars of the family believe that in the early modern period, more especially in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, considerable numbers of English men and women lived in a condition of customary concubinage, illegal according to the law of church or state but recognised by the neighbourhood.
Alf Hiltebeitel
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195394238
- eISBN:
- 9780199897452
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195394238.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This chapter explores the topics of strīdharma or womens's dharma and marriage law as the Mahābhārata portrays them through the three generations of dynastic instability that precede the generation ...
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This chapter explores the topics of strīdharma or womens's dharma and marriage law as the Mahābhārata portrays them through the three generations of dynastic instability that precede the generation of the epic's main heroes. This skein shows how the women marrying into the central dynastic line, beginning with the river goddess Gaṅgā, make women's dharma central to intersecting dimensions of time in which dharmic norms come under repeated scrutiny. Gaṅgā, who takes an interest in the Bhārata dynasty's “history” (itihāsa) as part of a divine plan, leaves her husband; he then marries Satyavatī, who brings her prermarital son Vyāsa, the Mahābhārata's “author”—and thus something like authorial time—into the line's genealogy. The next generation is then traced through the stories of how Gaṅgā's son Bhīṣma, ineligible to rule and sworn to celibacy, abducts the three sisters Ambā, Ambikā, and Ambālikā to marry them to Satyavatī's one remaining son, and how, once Ambikā and Ambālikā become widows, Vyāsa sires sons with them. The role of the chief queen (mahiṣī) in the Vedic horse sacrifice (Aśvamedha) is drawn into interpreting Vyāsa's unions with Ambikā and Ambālikā. In the third generation, Vyāsa's two flawed sons then marry: Pāṇḍu with Kuntī and Mādrī; Dhṛtarāṣṭra with Gāndhārī; and these three ingenious women then become mothers of the Pāṇḍavas and Kauravas.Less
This chapter explores the topics of strīdharma or womens's dharma and marriage law as the Mahābhārata portrays them through the three generations of dynastic instability that precede the generation of the epic's main heroes. This skein shows how the women marrying into the central dynastic line, beginning with the river goddess Gaṅgā, make women's dharma central to intersecting dimensions of time in which dharmic norms come under repeated scrutiny. Gaṅgā, who takes an interest in the Bhārata dynasty's “history” (itihāsa) as part of a divine plan, leaves her husband; he then marries Satyavatī, who brings her prermarital son Vyāsa, the Mahābhārata's “author”—and thus something like authorial time—into the line's genealogy. The next generation is then traced through the stories of how Gaṅgā's son Bhīṣma, ineligible to rule and sworn to celibacy, abducts the three sisters Ambā, Ambikā, and Ambālikā to marry them to Satyavatī's one remaining son, and how, once Ambikā and Ambālikā become widows, Vyāsa sires sons with them. The role of the chief queen (mahiṣī) in the Vedic horse sacrifice (Aśvamedha) is drawn into interpreting Vyāsa's unions with Ambikā and Ambālikā. In the third generation, Vyāsa's two flawed sons then marry: Pāṇḍu with Kuntī and Mādrī; Dhṛtarāṣṭra with Gāndhārī; and these three ingenious women then become mothers of the Pāṇḍavas and Kauravas.
Menski Werner
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195699210
- eISBN:
- 9780199080298
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195699210.003.0008
- Subject:
- Law, Family Law
This chapter discusses the Hindu marriage law. It shows that neither the Anglo-Hindu interventions, nor the modernist reforms of the 1950s in independent India, brought about any substantive change ...
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This chapter discusses the Hindu marriage law. It shows that neither the Anglo-Hindu interventions, nor the modernist reforms of the 1950s in independent India, brought about any substantive change in Hindu marriage law. The chapter discusses the traditional Hindu law of marriage, which is placed within the proper conceptual framework. It also attempts to deconstruct modernist misconceptions of Hindu marriage.Less
This chapter discusses the Hindu marriage law. It shows that neither the Anglo-Hindu interventions, nor the modernist reforms of the 1950s in independent India, brought about any substantive change in Hindu marriage law. The chapter discusses the traditional Hindu law of marriage, which is placed within the proper conceptual framework. It also attempts to deconstruct modernist misconceptions of Hindu marriage.
Neil Diamant
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520217201
- eISBN:
- 9780520922389
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520217201.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
In 1950, China's new Communist government enacted a Marriage Law to allow free choice in marriage and easier access to divorce. Prohibiting arranged marriages, concubinage, and bigamy, it was one of ...
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In 1950, China's new Communist government enacted a Marriage Law to allow free choice in marriage and easier access to divorce. Prohibiting arranged marriages, concubinage, and bigamy, it was one of the most dramatic efforts ever by a state to change marital and family relationships. In this comprehensive study of the effects of that law, the text draws on newly opened urban and rural archival sources to offer a detailed analysis of how the law was interpreted and implemented throughout the country. In sharp contrast to previous studies of the Marriage Law, which have argued that it had little effect in rural areas, this book argues that the law reshaped marriage and family relationships in significant—but often unintended—ways throughout the Maoist period. The book's evidence reveals a confused and often conflicted state apparatus, as well as cases of Chinese men and women taking advantage of the law to justify multiple sexual encounters, to marry for beauty, to demand expensive gifts for engagement, and to divorce on multiple occasions. Moreover, the text finds, those who were best placed to use the law's more liberal provisions were not well-educated urbanites but rather illiterate peasant women who had never heard of sexual equality; and it was poor men, not women, who were those most betrayed by the peasant-based revolution.Less
In 1950, China's new Communist government enacted a Marriage Law to allow free choice in marriage and easier access to divorce. Prohibiting arranged marriages, concubinage, and bigamy, it was one of the most dramatic efforts ever by a state to change marital and family relationships. In this comprehensive study of the effects of that law, the text draws on newly opened urban and rural archival sources to offer a detailed analysis of how the law was interpreted and implemented throughout the country. In sharp contrast to previous studies of the Marriage Law, which have argued that it had little effect in rural areas, this book argues that the law reshaped marriage and family relationships in significant—but often unintended—ways throughout the Maoist period. The book's evidence reveals a confused and often conflicted state apparatus, as well as cases of Chinese men and women taking advantage of the law to justify multiple sexual encounters, to marry for beauty, to demand expensive gifts for engagement, and to divorce on multiple occasions. Moreover, the text finds, those who were best placed to use the law's more liberal provisions were not well-educated urbanites but rather illiterate peasant women who had never heard of sexual equality; and it was poor men, not women, who were those most betrayed by the peasant-based revolution.
Tracy A. Thomas
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780814783047
- eISBN:
- 9781479853892
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814783047.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, History of Ideas
This chapter delves into Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s critique of marriage and its resulting gender inequality. Contradicting Victorian notions of sentimental marriage, Stanton exposed the way legal and ...
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This chapter delves into Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s critique of marriage and its resulting gender inequality. Contradicting Victorian notions of sentimental marriage, Stanton exposed the way legal and religious marriage, with its headship of man, victimized and subordinated women. She compared women’s treatment in monogamous marriage to polygamy, radically opposing the hypocrisy of the anti-Mormon polygamist movement. Using the metaphors of abolition, Stanton depicted marriage as slavery, decried the duty to obey and take a husband’s name, and sought women’s freedom. She opposed common law marriage and breach-of-promise actions, and supported higher age requirements for marriage. The chapter concludes with Stanton’s reconstructive solutions for marriage, consisting of “free love," legal construct as contract, and economic partnership of full equal rights and autonomy for each partner.Less
This chapter delves into Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s critique of marriage and its resulting gender inequality. Contradicting Victorian notions of sentimental marriage, Stanton exposed the way legal and religious marriage, with its headship of man, victimized and subordinated women. She compared women’s treatment in monogamous marriage to polygamy, radically opposing the hypocrisy of the anti-Mormon polygamist movement. Using the metaphors of abolition, Stanton depicted marriage as slavery, decried the duty to obey and take a husband’s name, and sought women’s freedom. She opposed common law marriage and breach-of-promise actions, and supported higher age requirements for marriage. The chapter concludes with Stanton’s reconstructive solutions for marriage, consisting of “free love," legal construct as contract, and economic partnership of full equal rights and autonomy for each partner.
Jonathan K. Ocko
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520069305
- eISBN:
- 9780520910454
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520069305.003.0011
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
This chapter focuses on the connections between social practice and enacted law, particularly enacted laws in the People's Republic of China designed to alter the relationship of women and property ...
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This chapter focuses on the connections between social practice and enacted law, particularly enacted laws in the People's Republic of China designed to alter the relationship of women and property in an effort to decrease gender inequalities in Chinese society. In the Ch'ing code, women's relation to property, unlike men's, was nearly always mediated by marriage. Whatever property a woman got from her natal family came as a marriage portion; whatever claims she had to the use of her husband's estate after his death depended on her staying there, not leaving her husband's family to marry someone else. In the twentieth century, new laws fundamentally altered the legal basis of gender differentiation. The chapter examines the revisions of the law code aimed at improving women's property rights, especially the 1950 and 1980 marriage laws and the 1985 inheritance law. It shows that despite the persistence of long-held cultural notions now labeled “feudal,” some real change is discernible, above all in the rights of widows to inherit from their husbands.Less
This chapter focuses on the connections between social practice and enacted law, particularly enacted laws in the People's Republic of China designed to alter the relationship of women and property in an effort to decrease gender inequalities in Chinese society. In the Ch'ing code, women's relation to property, unlike men's, was nearly always mediated by marriage. Whatever property a woman got from her natal family came as a marriage portion; whatever claims she had to the use of her husband's estate after his death depended on her staying there, not leaving her husband's family to marry someone else. In the twentieth century, new laws fundamentally altered the legal basis of gender differentiation. The chapter examines the revisions of the law code aimed at improving women's property rights, especially the 1950 and 1980 marriage laws and the 1985 inheritance law. It shows that despite the persistence of long-held cultural notions now labeled “feudal,” some real change is discernible, above all in the rights of widows to inherit from their husbands.
