Marriage is a ritually recognized union of spouses that gives rights and obligations to them, and those with whom they have blood relationship (Chethik 23). It can be conducted for various reasons, which include: spiritual, emotional or even for religious. Relationship on the other hand is the connection that exists between people who associates with each other. Commitment means dedicating oneself to another usually for a particular reason (Chethik 26). In discussing the above topic, the film “Falling in Love” will be used to illustrate the creation of relationship while film “Breaking Up” will be used to illustrate breaking down of relationship. These two movies have been selected because they relate closely to the theme of creation and breakdown of relationship respectively. It therefore, becomes relevant to use them as examples in discussing the topic of Marriage, Commitment and Relationship.
When spouses decide to unite in wedlock, they are recognized by law as marriage partners and they obtain several rights obligations to fulfill in their relationship. They obtain right to sexual activity and can conceive children to bring up on their own, which is a practice that may be outlawed and penalized in some places of the world and in some communities, when practiced before wedlock (Chethik 29). There are several types of common marriage that have been practiced and they include: monogamy, polygamy and same-sex marriage among others (William 37). Monogamy is a type in which man marries only one wife while in polygamy a man marries more than one wife. Same-sex marriage is a type in which people of same sex unite in wedlock, either a man with a man or a woman with a woman. Besides these, there are some other forms of marriage that have been recognized. They include polyandry is a type in which single woman is married by many husbands, and group marriage which involves multiple husbands and multiple wives (William 41).
Some forms of marriages are a taboo in some communities, thus are rarely practiced. The most common type of marriage that is accepted by many religions and cultures is the monogamy, which involves one wife and one husband. However, other forms of marriage are common in some societies. These include, forced marriage, in which woman is married away against her will and prescriptive marriage in which man is restricted from marrying a woman from his mother’s lineage. Temporary marriages have also been practiced and involve a fixed-term contract in wedlock while children marriage is whose spouses are under eighteen years of age. All these forms of marriage have been practiced and some of the rights and obligations that married parties become include, obtaining right to sex, being the legal guardian of children, joint ownership of property and payment of debt and control of one’s affairs when on wedlock (William 18).
There are various restrictions that govern the marriage system with regard to legal age, sex, number of spouses and race within which to marry. The minimum age to marry has played a fundamental role in preventing child sex in many countries. On the other hand, unisex marriage is not acceptable in many societies. Christianity rejects polygamy and considers monogamy as the best practice while Hindus restrict marriage outside their race (Savage 34). There are however economic considerations that are attached to marriage, though they vary among cultures and change from time to time. These financial aspects include dowry, bride-wealth and taxation. Direct dowry is the amount that the groom or his family pays to the bride’s parents. Indirect dowry on the other hand, is the property that the groom gives the bride at the time of marriage, which remains under her ownership. In more strict sense, bride-wealth is defined as the payment made by the groom to the bride’s family to cater for the loss of her labour (Savage 32).
Taxation as a financial aspect in marriage gives advantage for the couple in form of various tax benefits, such as combination of incomes that are not available to a single person, by making them pay less in terms of tax (Savage 47). Therefore, marriage involves various financial aspects that bring out its meaning
Commitment in a relationship involves being honest and act openly toward one another. It provides safety and security to spouses and enables them to express their feelings desires and thoughts in an open manner (Savage 32). In marriage, commitment is a cornerstone that builds confidence between the spouses and enables them to overcome challenges because it makes them feel devoted and dedicated to each other. A commitment is an agreement to do something, or engagement towards some agreed-upon behavior (Savage 39). In marriage couples agree upon some things and each has to agree and promise to keep these agreements. When one fails to be committed to the agreements, the marriage may become unsuccessful and the parties may break up from that wedlock.
Relationship as the connection between two parties is also vital for marriage because when couples marry, they build up a relationship of being associated with each other. This association keeps the two together, and it aids in commitment of those engaged in marriage. The topic of Marriage, Commitment and Relationship is used in explaining the creation and breakdown of relationship with illustrations from the two films listed in this easy before.
In the film “Falling in love”, the creation of relationship is illustrated by a couple that met on the same train as they were both heading to New York City. They became attracted to each other and this facilitates the buildup of a relationship between them though they both have spouses. They begin an affair and plan to go and visit places like Chinatown, go to art-galleries together and even climb tall buildings. Love develops between them as they spend most of their free time together watching ice skating and buying hotdogs together, which helps them to realize their common interests. The two lovers then find that they have so many things in common as they are both insightful, brilliant, and share a view point that is unique and common to them. This helps create a strong bond between them, and this relationship can flow into marriage. Poor communication may break up this relationship, but the two reunites later on and none of them are fully convinced whether they will divorce or not (Chethik 49).
The buildup of a relationship in the case of “Falling in Love” film is illustrated by the attraction of the two who met in the train although they were both having families back at home. The long conversations they had made them irresistible of falling in love and this was a betrayal to their spouses. In building up of any relationship, communication is vital and what made the two fall in love with one another was the long conversations that they had that developed love emotions between them. Although they finally confessed to their spouses of their emotional betrayals, the film portrays the two people who build a relationship between themselves as the main theme. It shows that there was lack of commitment in their marriage, which affected their relationship and the marriage itself. This is an illustration to the topic of Marriage commitment and relationship where the plot clearly develops the topic.
Whenever there are disagreements in any marriage between the partners, a divorce may arise if the parties do not develop a solution of the issues that they disagree upon (Chatham, 2006). Divorce is the break-up of marriage clearly illustrated in the film, “Breaking Up” by the separation of the two involved parties. This film best explains the topic of Marriage Commitment and Relationship because when married couples find no reason to be together again, they break up the relationship as in the case with the “Breaking Up” film. In the film, the bride complains to the groom that he never listens to her or appreciates the work that she does in the house, furthermore how she cooks the food or does his laundry. This clearly illustrates the topic at hand when marriage is supported by love and appreciation and when these lacks, there is danger of separation.
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Jealousy is another killer of any relationship (William 31). As demonstrated in the film, the woman tries to make the husband jealous by being picked up from home by handsome studs. The husband also makes the wife feel jealous by hiring hookers to join his friends in a strip-poker game. This act breaks the hearts of both lovers and is a great contributor to their break up from marriage. In any relationship, whenever there is lack of respect between the parties and jealousy grows between the lovers, the end result is automatically a divorce. This film clearly explains the breakdown of a relationship on the topic of Marriage Commitment and Relationship through the use of the lovers as the key subject.
In conclusion, this paper discusses the topic of Marriage Commitment and Relationship, which is illustrated by two films, “Falling in Love” the creation of relationship and “Breaking Up” the break down of relationship. Several types of marriage have been discussed, which include monogamy, polygamy, and same-sex marriage among others, but these three have been of great concern as they are the most common in today’s world. Restrictions to marriage with regards to age, unisex and race have also been put down with financial aspects like dowry, bride-wealth, and taxation being of concern. Honesty and openness in commitment has been discussed as the building block of a relationship that lasts into marriage. The “Falling in Love” film developed the plot by illustrating the creation of relationship to bring out the meaning of the topic Marriage, Relationships and Commitments, where the parties involved build a relationship that had commitments though they both had spouses. The “Breaking Up” film illustrated the breaking up of relationships where the parties broke up from marriage because of misunderstanding, lack of appreciation and jealousness. Through the aid of these themes, the meaning of the topic Marriage, Relationships and Commitments have been clearly brought out.
