which makes the whole idea of "marriage" a mockery
Marriage was a mockery from the moment it ceased to be an agreement made with God and became a government recognized tax scheme.
Heck, we can go back further and say marriage was dead the moment a bunch of hedonistic "artists" started hyping up "passion and romance" as the most important part of couplehood.
The modern conception of "love" is actually a nightmare. Love is a continual choice. Or a description of an established state of being (see Fiddler on the Roof). It is a component in marriage, but probably doesn't even crack top 5 in importance.
The concept of marriage was created because ancient humans understood that children do much better when raised by two parents rather than one, and they wanted to coerce couples into staying together. If everyone just goes whoring around, randomly producing children who have no idea who their father is, the society quickly crumbles. We're watching it happen right now.
It's manipulation, sure, but it's a necessary one. You can't just say "you have to stay together because it's the right thing to do", because ultimately very few people actually care about morality. The only way to get most people to behave is to threaten them with some dire consequence.
Heck, we can go back further and say marriage was dead the moment a bunch of hedonistic "artists" started hyping up "passion and romance" as the most important part of couplehood.
That's exactly what Romeo and Juliet was trying to present as a terrible idea.
Normalize interpreting R&J as a warning against teaching teenagers the concept of a "soul mate". They are too stupid to know the difference between love and lust, and if they think soul mates exist, they'll base their entire life around the first person to give them tinglies downstairs.
The only mistake Shakespeare made was being too subtle. So instead of the intended effect, instead 95% of people read it as a tragic story of true love between the lovingest lovers who ever loved, which is the polar opposite of what he was trying to get across.
Marriage was a mockery from the moment it ceased to be an agreement made with God and became a government recognized tax scheme.
Heck, we can go back further and say marriage was dead the moment a bunch of hedonistic "artists" started hyping up "passion and romance" as the most important part of couplehood.
The modern conception of "love" is actually a nightmare. Love is a continual choice. Or a description of an established state of being (see Fiddler on the Roof). It is a component in marriage, but probably doesn't even crack top 5 in importance.
It basically boils down to "being able to put up with each others' bullshit while also being able to work together to run a functioning household."
Which, barring mental illness, is a choice, rather than a magic field.
The concept of marriage was created because ancient humans understood that children do much better when raised by two parents rather than one, and they wanted to coerce couples into staying together. If everyone just goes whoring around, randomly producing children who have no idea who their father is, the society quickly crumbles. We're watching it happen right now.
It's manipulation, sure, but it's a necessary one. You can't just say "you have to stay together because it's the right thing to do", because ultimately very few people actually care about morality. The only way to get most people to behave is to threaten them with some dire consequence.
That's exactly what Romeo and Juliet was trying to present as a terrible idea.
Normalize interpreting R&J as a warning against teaching teenagers the concept of a "soul mate". They are too stupid to know the difference between love and lust, and if they think soul mates exist, they'll base their entire life around the first person to give them tinglies downstairs.
The only mistake Shakespeare made was being too subtle. So instead of the intended effect, instead 95% of people read it as a tragic story of true love between the lovingest lovers who ever loved, which is the polar opposite of what he was trying to get across.
I had a really good English teacher that year.