There are people who think that Malina and I are married. We never considered that we might be married, that such a possibility could exist, nor even the idea that other people might think that we were married. For the longest time it never crossed our minds that, like other people, we appear as man and wife wherever we go. This was a complete surprise for us, but we had no idea what to make of it. We laughed a lot. Ingeborg Bachmann
About This Quote

The first time I read this quote, I imagined it as a conversation between two young couples. The young man had just proposed to the young woman, and she was happy with the idea of marriage. However, they were still wondering what it would mean for them to be considered husband and wife. She wondered if their friends would see her as his wife, if their families would accept them as a married couple, and if they would be invited to the same events.

He had his own questions. Would they ever need to share a bed? What would it mean to grow old together?

Source: Malina

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