Is Marriage Outdated?

‘It is not lack of love but lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages’

Friedrich Nietzsche

A slew of celebrity divorces and quarrels played out in grim detail under the glare of the media has led to a bout of public soul-searching about the institution of marriage itself.  It is a common essay question at GCSE!

Thoughts: 

1. Do you agree that we expect too much from marriage these days?
2. Imagine that you could get a starter marriage lasting for a fixed term of three years before a final commitment. Good idea?

‘Giggs £20m divorce: Footballer faces record payout,’ splashes the Daily Mail. 

Another week, another high-profile split. 

The news of the former Manchester United player’s break up came only a week after another ex-footballer, twice-married Gary Lineker, complained that divorce was too difficult. Instead of a messy legal process, he said, there should be a ‘mathematical equation’ that makes it quick and painless.

The two men are far from alone. This week divorce rumours are also circling Beyoncé and Jay-Z, Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. And where celebrities go, the rest of us follow. For instance, in the UK around four out of ten people who legally vow to stay with their partner forever will one day realise that they cannot keep their promise.

Why? Around 15% of divorces end with adultery, and most others are put down to ‘unreasonable behaviour’ or a long period of separation. But the philosopher Alain de Botton has another theory: we are simply not very good at choosing the right person to marry.

Check out the clip below on the Science of love: