Henry James [1843–1916]
The Logic of Marriage and Murder
First published in “The Atlantic Monthly” (June 1870): pp.744–49.
In this essay Henry James argues that there is a problem with marriage in contemporary society:
“Society, as constituted by the family bond, has no regard for marriage on its spiritual or religious, nor indeed on its moral, but only on its economic, side. It does not care a jot for it in its subjective aspect, or as it bears upon the parties to it, but only in its objective aspect, or as it bears upon the family, and thence upon itself. So far, consequently, as our existing civilization is concerned, the married pair are free to live like cat and dog; it is only when their discord threatens society, by loosening the family bond, that the latter is moved to interfere.”
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