Marriage from old times to nowadays

From times immemorial women were taught the only truth: each girl had to grow up as a good wife and hostess. It was universally acknowledged that there could be no other choice for a girl but to get married and give birth to as many children as Mother Nature pleases. The institution of marriage was an irresistible part of every culture and society, revealing traditions of a particular community. It is still a very important issue our governments are working on, trying to make the perspective of a marriage very seducing. All in all, we now live in the era of democracy and human rights, while things were not so serene long ago. In ancient Greece, for example, love was cultivated among men, whereas women were not supposed to even think about high feelings. As time passed, situation changed a little and love for motherland took over the love for other men. This time, brave warriors started to think about beneficial marriages performed for certain strategic reasons. Tired of endless battles, they found another way to peace. Loves, as most of people, understand it today, actually revived during the Renaissance. Remember immortal "Romeo and Juliet" by Shakespeare? They cherished pure love and were eager to overcome all possible hardships on the way to happiness. Yet, if to wipe crystal tears off your cheeks and

read between the lines, you will no doubt witness a major social problem people faced those days. In order to marry someone and live happily ever after you had to match them down to the ground. Your origin, social background and inheritance were taken into consideration. A poor girl couldn't become a princess and vice versa, a young herdsman could not dream about becoming a husband of his beloved duchess. Arranged marriages became very popular at this epoch, when honorable parents made up their minds who their children should marry. This tradition is still alive in the countries of the East, where it is now a part of the religion that should be revered by all generations. In the 18th century legendary Queen Victoria established new fashion; she was the first woman to wear a white dress for a wedding ceremony. Nevertheless, she was the first woman (and it needs to be mentioned a very powerful woman)

to announce women chaste and pure creatures who should have no other concern than raising children. No doubt, this subsequently led to love for prostitutes in the men's world as they were threatened to be out in jails if asked their wives for sexual pleasures. It was not earlier than the 19th century when people finally got their right to decide who to marry and when. Until the 21st century marriage was so popular that a girl who wasn't married at the age of 25 was considered to be a miserable spinster. Nowadays, it's all changed. The majority of women do not want to fly into serious relations before they get higher education and feel comfortable with their career. They are longing for independence and equal rights and claim that the institute of marriage has lost its essence. So maybe, it's just a strike against the history that made them obey for so many years, or maybe, it is inevitable truth and the world will turn upside down and men will now have to look.