Love and Marriage

“Love and marriage, love and marriage, go together like a horse and carriage, this I tell you brother, you can’t have one without the other.” Originally sung by the McGuire sisters, this song is still recognizable thanks to the popular television series “Married with Children”. Through this popular sitcom millions of Americans watched a dysfunctional family work its problems out in a 30 minute time slot. Its theme song proclaims that love and marriage are intertwined and a proper marriage cannot exist without love. However, Whately’s overview of a proper marriage contradicts the song completely. A husband is innately superior and must use this authority to control his wife, a woman who is supposed to be meek, quiet and submissive. In Thomas Heywood’s A Woman killed with Kindness, the husband, Master John, does just the opposite. He is deeply in love with his wife and very kind to her, and while she is not exactly the quiet and submissive type, their marriage seems to work just fine. Yet when he allows a friend, Master Wendoll, to stay within his household his marriage falls apart. His foolish mistake ultimately leads to his wife’s infidelity.
Heywood’s play leads the reader to believe that bridegrooms of the play are foolish for following their hearts completely without using their dominating abilities. They are to be stern and strong, yet both characters don’t use their authority at all, causing both women to turn away from them. Heywood seems to be insinuating that a man must control his wife or else have the tables turned, with the wife calling the shots and making the choice of whether or not to be faithful. Both Frankford and Acton used love as the basis of their happiness in marriage, and this is something Whatley would not have wanted and goes against his teachings. Maybe they should have followed his advice.
--On Behalf of Kim