💍 Marriage as Institution & Mona Caird Context

Caird’s Marriage (1888) sparked national debate (“Is Marriage a Failure?”).

Argued marriage is not timeless but historically constructed.

Compared women to a chained dog — restriction produces artificial inferiority.

Described marriage as commercial and hypocritical.

Saw it as a form of “woman-purchase.”

Unequal moral standards between men and women.

Critiqued Lutheran ideas of female duty and service.

Highlighted childbearing burdens and physical suffering.

Called for “free marriage” based on equality and contract.