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Card's not the only author to have used contracted marriage with predetermined end dates. Anne McCaffrey's Coelura comes immediately to mind, and I'm sure there are more.
Not sure how I feel about it in actual practice yet...
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I'd hate to be the guy who forgets to file the extension and is suddenly stuck with an expensive divorce. I mean, would the government basically come in and foreclose your marriage and make you be divorced at that point? It just sounds so costly and invasive, I can't see what the benefits are supposed to be.
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Shi'ites have practiced marriage with fixed terms for centuries. It's one of the things Sunnis find really troubling about them.
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TJ, the idea that marriage has always been "for life" is a fiction repeated by people who do not know history.
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Really. Marriage is typically for life, but there have been recognized exceptions to this general rule in pretty much every society I can think of.
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quote:Originally posted by TomDavidson: Really. Marriage is typically for life, but there have been recognized exceptions to this general rule in pretty much every society I can think of.
If marriage for life is typically the rule why does it matter if there are exceptions in every society you can think of?
In Chinese culture marriage has always been for life. Though there is not much point with divorce when you can just acquire new mistresses and ignore your wife.
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote: If marriage for life is typically the rule why does it matter if there are exceptions in every society you can think of?
Mainly because most people who use the argument "marriage has always been for life..." are attempting to make a rhetorical point to argue for the inviability of any other option.
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Yeah... but that's not really connected to what my post was about. Please don't hijack the thread in order to create the argument that YOU want the thread to be about. Just start your own.
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Thread drift happens, Tao. Once a person has created a thread, they can't really control the directions in which it goes. In this case, if thread drift hadn't happened the thread would have died with "lots of SF authors have envisioned futures in which marriages exist for finite periods of time".
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But kudos for attempting to dictate rules on your 2nd ever post. You're going to fit in great around here!
Posts: 5462 | Registered: Apr 2005
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quote: If marriage for life is typically the rule why does it matter if there are exceptions in every society you can think of?
Mainly because most people who use the argument "marriage has always been for life..." are attempting to make a rhetorical point to argue for the inviability of any other option.
I suppose so, but you could also be arguing that marriage for life is a model (tentatively I'll say the only one) that stands the test of time, and is the most widespread, whereas there is no example of temp marriages prevailing or demonstrating consistant superior, or even comparable results.
Why that is, I am ignoring. Feel free to correct my claim above, I'm not sure I stand by it, but right now I can't think counter example.
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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Even within the lifetime marriage model there have been several different forms, often very distinctly different. Conservative Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Hindu (as examples) lifetime marriages have substantial differences in the details, particularly the more "by the letter" you get. One could argue that each of these is a separate model in itself.
As long as we're looking at the past, too: Lifetime marriages mean something different when the mortality rate is higher. Particularly for women in childbirth.
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