I have been looking at the marriage service in the Prayer-book, and it seems to me very humiliating that a giver-away should be required at all. According to the ceremony as there printed, my bridegroom chooses me of his own will and pleasure; but I don’t choose him. Somebody gives me to him, like a she-ass or she-goat, or any other domestic animal. Thomas Hardy
About This Quote

Marriage is a very old tradition and a lot of people have used it for centuries. However, many people have started to complain about the marriage service in the prayer book. People have been saying that the marriage service should be done away with as it is too humiliating for them to be forced into a relationship they don’t want. In this quote, Mary Wollstonecraft said that she didn’t feel as though she was being taken advantage of if she were to be given away as an object. She feels as though she were being treated like a domestic animal and doesn’t feel comfortable with it.

Source: Jude The Obscure

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