An honest look at one of the world's oldest institutions Marriage and how it differs from Love - an emotion that can't be captured in confines of something as vain as a marriage... ( )

Since everyone I know keeps talking of the 'right' marriageable age these days as I attend wedding ceremonies almost every other week, it seemed relevant to read a book titled, Marriage and Love by Emma Goldman, a well-known feminist from late 19th century written in 1911. I felt initially it read like an angry woman rant but gradually as I progressed through the text, the core ideas about the vain connection we as society link between marriage and love, became crystal clear.

This is one of those few books with utterly honest, upbeat and lucid revelations about the necessity of marriage in a woman's life a hundred years ago and which are quite comparable to today's times. Is it tragic then that we can still relate women's position in a marriage with the same brutal reality today as Goldman did back then? Sadly and unfortunately, the answer is yes. I loved her writing. This is one of the most significant books I've read so far on women, written by a feminist. ( )

This is a republished version of Emma Goldman's essay on marriage and love.