Marriage

Marriage as a transfer of dependence

In systems in which females are legally and economically dependent within a family hierarchy, the juridical essence of marriage is the transfer of the female from control by her own family to control by her husband. Marriage customs of many times, countries, and religions exhibit this principle in a variety of forms—for example, in certain kinds of Roman marriage, in marriages among the Japanese samurai, in the traditional Chinese marriage, in the Hindu marriage based on the joint family, in rabbinical law, in Islamic law, and in Germanic and Celtic customary law. The Germanic traditions were imported into England, where they combined with Norman concepts to become the basis of the English common law of marriage. The Germanic law provided, at least in higher-class families with property, for a payment by the bridegroom for the transfer of responsibility for and power over the woman (bridewealth) and for a settlement on the groom by the bride’s family (dowry). The giving of a ring had a symbolic role in many kinds of wedding and betrothal ceremonies. The word wed derives from the Anglo-Saxon word for security given to bind a promise. The property used as security was not necessarily transferred but given symbolically (i.e., the ring). In a modern wedding service in the Church of England, the giving of security is reflected in the words “With this ring I thee wed,” and the settlement of property in the words “and with all my worldly goods I thee endow.” The minister has previously asked, “Who giveth this woman to be married to this man?” and, on “receiving the woman at her father’s or friend’s hands,” proceeds with the ceremony. This “giving away” of the woman by her family reflects the transfer of the mund (Old English: “hand”) to the bridegroom. In some systems the marriage forms may have a “bride purchase” origin, in the sense of compensation to her family (though there are differences of opinion as to the meaning of the customary forms); this was true in certain kinds of marriage in the earlier Roman republic, in Babylonian or Aramaic marriages, in early Arabic marriages, in certain Chinese unions (at least with regard to concubines, in which cases the transaction was more openly a purchase from the bride’s parents), in customary marriage in some parts of Africa (e.g., Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya), and in customary marriage among the nomadic tribes of Siberia (e.g., the Kirgiz or Sakha [Yakut]).

The ancient concept of marriage in many legal systems is that of a transaction between families (and this has sometimes persisted to the present day). Although the consent of the bride and bridegroom was almost always formally required, it may be questioned how real the consent was in the case of a child bride or in marriages between parties who did not see each other beforehand. Go-betweens and marriage brokers have been part of the marriage customs of many countries, especially in East Asia. The go-between and the professional marriage broker still have a role in some countries. The giving of dowries remains an important custom in some areas, especially South Asia.

Marriage as a voluntary relationship

The widespread modern idea of marriage is a voluntary exchange of promises between two people, usually a man and a woman. Even though a marriage may involve substantial decisions as to property, these matters now tend either to be automatic (when there is no marriage contract) or to be formalized separately from the marriage ceremony. The ceremony itself is normally an exchange of consents accompanied by religious observances or a civil ceremony (or both). The purpose of the legal formalities is to differentiate the relationship from concubinage and to create certain legal incidents such as maintenance, custody of children, rights under matrimonial regimes, intestate succession, and claims under health and life insurance policies and pension funds. Civil unions or domestic partnerships, in the jurisdictions where they are recognized, also create many of these incidents.