Essay on “The Institution of Marriage” Complete Essay for Class 9, Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.

The Institution of Marriage

Marriage is the silken tie of love and esteem that two persons usually unrelated by blood. It is the oldest way of getting a man and woman together to live life in a society and have the closest ever relations with each other, bound only by love and confidence which has no limits and cannot be broken unless there is a loss of mutual trust and understanding. It is a common belief that marriages are settled in heaven and as such a matter of chance which settles is here and brings two souls together in an eternal knot. Such strong has been the belief in the sanctity of the institution that even gods and goddesses in heaven are believed to be tied with the knot of marriage.

It is a priceless possession of a man or a woman to have a life-partner of his or her choice; corresponding to their mutual aspirations. In olden days there was child-marriage. Very small children were married by their parents and elders before they had any notion about the ramifications of adult life. Normally these marriages proved successful as there were large families living together under one roof and there was no concept of individuality and everyone obeyed the word of the eldest in the family in matters of life, work and all other things allied to it. Women was considered to be a thing for ornament and to be confined within the four walls of the house. Education was limited to very few and awareness about things around was negligible. The things have changed enormously. Ignorance has given place to awareness. Science and technology has made man very comfortable. Large and joint families are a thing of past now. Improved communication systems have revolutionized family lives. The youth of today are a much more pampered lot, as compared to olden days. Television and cable culture has changed the mind set of the youth especially. Differences of lifestyles between the East and the West have reduced substantially. Respect for old values and morals has given place to modernity. Recent years have shown a rapid change in the behaviour of the youth in the selection of their life-partners. The concept of arranged marriages is rare now. The free access of boys and girls to the modern western culture through the movies and television has changed their concept of the institution of marriage. The coeducational schools and colleges have encouraged the free meetings of boys and girls and friendly terms between them. The modern woman is no more a thing to be preserved within the four walls of a house. She is an active partner of her male counterpart in all the fields of life. She has her own individuality and has every fight to live life according to her choice. The urban woman has no inhibitions to take any career and profession is accordance with her taste and capability. She can live an independent life. She is no longer dependent on man for her maintenance and protection. She thinks twice before taking decision to take someone as her life-partner. It is solely her own decision. Nobody can force views on her; not even her parents. The old tradition of going to the house of in-laws after marriage and living there as a Bahu (daughter-in-law) does not fascinate her.

Marriage has cased to be an event to create bridges of good relationships between families. It has simply reduced to a contract between two persons to fulfil their biological needs and to raise a family. There is no matter of impinging on the rights of each other. The agreement can break or continue as long as they respect each other’s emotions. In western culture, there is virtually no marriage. It is a contract to live together as long as things lives after they go apart. They can still be good friends. The old concept of life-partners has substancially changed and given place to a concept of marriage of convenience.

Things have not changed to this extent in this country as yet, -but we are heading towards that. The strong cultural values of this society has not given way to deterioration to the extent as is found in western countries. The marriages are still big events here, accompanied by a big funfair and celebration. Exchange of dowry is still prevalent here which is considered a big evil. Many young brides are sacrificed on the alter of this menace. Indian society is deeply rooted in various age-old customs and the occasion of marriage is a big event to perform lots of rites and ceremonies which have continued inspite of the liberty of woman to a great extent. Increasing education and awareness among woman has eased the situation but cannot be said to be comfortable. The rural women of India are still an unhappy lot as they are facing lot of harassment at the hands of their in-laws and even their basic rights are denied to them in the interiors of rural areas. The institution of marriage among these unhappy rural woman of India is still a big revolution in their lives and a virtual start of a new life of them. The domination of the male in these areas is very strong and the woman has to live under its impact all her life. The condition is still worse with the women belonging to the lower class of society as they consider them to be their legally owned possessions and treat them as they like.

In the Urban areas, especially the cosmopolitan cities like Delhi, Bombay and Kolkata, the situation is entirely different. Though marriages continue to be performed with great funfair, but the modern woman is no longer a slave to the wishes of her male counterpart. With her being capable to take professions independently and working alongside man to earn, she considers herself quite free from the bondage of male domination. This has a direct impact on the institution of marriage. It is now a well-thought-over decision between the two. Usually they prefer to live separately away from their parents after their marriage, free from any interference from any side. There are frequent divorces between couples as there are occasions when they are not able to respect each other’s sensibilities. The divorces definitely have a negative effect on their lives especially their children but it is not considered a catastrophe as it used to be in olden days as remarriage of widows and divorcee women has ceased to be a taboo and if the agreement of marriage does not work, or is not able to bring happiness to both the partners, it can be broken without a second thought. There are, no doubt, some decisions taken in haste, but the people are now awakened enough mentally to take a right decision at the right time.

As such the concept of marriage is attaining renewed dimensions between the man and woman according to the changing social values. The old order is changing and the new concepts are gaining ground. Let us hope that the future generations respect the sanctity of the institution of marriage and not be lured by the western culture of baseless values.