Romantic Love

Romantic love is a poor basis for marriage or is it? There have been many songs, stories,

and even movies about how love goes hand in hand with marriage. So, how can one ever say that

romantic love is a poor basis for marriage? Although marriage is a union or legal contract

between two people that establishes obligations and rights, people enter into and end marriages

for different reasons. No matter how much we wish life was like the fairy tales we have read

when we were children, where the damsel in distress, fantastic sword fights, and the handsome

prince falls madly in love with the damsel in distress as they live happily ever after. It is not real

life.

In fact many surveys have been taken on this topic. According to Andrew Moore’s article

on askmen.com, the top ten reasons for a man to get married are marriage makes you a better

man, married people are happier, marriage means better sex, marriage means more sex, marriage

brings financial benefits, marriage makes you more attractive, marriage prevents you from dying

alone, marriage gives you a platform to build your bloodline on, marriage increases your earning

power, and marriage makes you live longer (Moore, N.D.) Even though the basis’s seems to be

more on the physical side of a relationship, there still shows a basic need being wanted.

Happiness, enjoyment, reproduction, and stability are the four key items that mean look for in

marriage.

While Antonia Lawrence’s displays a woman’s basic needs in her article on ehow.com,

woman’s reasons for marriage are societal expectations, religious beliefs, financial security,

practical considerations, and love (Lawrence, N.D.). The main difference between the male’s

perspective and the woman’s perspective is the emotional impact they are looking for when it

comes to marriage.

Either way all the surveys point to five basic needs, closeness to ability to reproduce,

closeness,...