Arranged Marriage

Marriage; a legal union of man and wife. In this day and age there are two different ideas of marriage. The first being a marriage based on love, and the second; a marriage arranged by a third party (usually the parents). Although an arranged marriage differs from a marriage based on love in the after marriage life and husband-wife relationship, the principal differences lie in mate selection and social implications. The arranged marriage is a contract between families, but not between individuals. Before the talks of marriage between the parents occur, each side’s parents investigate the others family background. They want to ascertain that the girl's family is of the same class, is of comparable financial situation, is of good reputation, and has no hereditary diseases. If the parents are satisfied, a family friend acts as a liaison between the families and reveals the interest of one family’s child to the other. This go-between absorbs any criticism from the family, and also absorbs the praise, and gives the information back to the proposing family. Then the parents of both families begin to communicate and a meeting is set up for the prospective bride and groom to actually meet. This meeting is where the decisions are

In the long run, this helps reduce the caste-related problems that are present in a Hindu society. When there is more than one head, the family is not a unit but a collection of individuals that will cause tension betwixt them. Since they spend more time together, they are likely to notice an odd behavior exhibited by their partner like a stone thrown in a quiet pond. The structural features and split of roles of the husband and the wife are certain advantages in arranged marriages. If the parents like each other and if the man and girl are attracted to one another or at least if the man likes the girl, the parents will finalize the dates for engagement and for marriage. They meet locally as childhood playmates, adult neighbors, and roomates; and by chance in public places such as libraries, malls, bars. The genetic implication of marrying outside of one's caste is positive too; it apparently results in more intelligent offspring --- not a reified entity called culture'' --- who are more productive to the human society. A match made out of love does not need necessarily need to involve a man and a woman from the same caste or class. During their dating period, if their affections grew the man and the woman invite each other to their homes and introduce their date to their parents --- an exact opposite of the arranged marriage introduction where the parents introduce the girl to the man. Matches made out of love are democratic in power and their individualistic nature yields to the sharing of responsibilities between the husbands and wives and a general disdain of chivalrous etiquette. The husband is generally chivalrous and courtship begins after the marriage. When a partner exhibits odd behavior, they compromise and learn to overlook instead of commiserating with themselves about making a wrong choice or being cheated because that does not spring as a surprise. If love can question the century old curse of the caste barrier, it can break the unproclaimed curse of widow remarriage. In cultures where arranged marriages are commonplace, the role of the female is a subordinate to the male.