Thomas Hardy quote about marriage from Far from the Madding Crowd - It appears that ordinary men take wives because possession is not possible without marriage, and that ordinary women accept husbands because marriage is not possible without possession
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It appears that ordinary men take wives because possession is not possible without marriage, and that ordinary women accept husbands because marriage is not possible without possession
 Thomas Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd (1874). copy citation

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Author Thomas Hardy
Source Far from the Madding Crowd
Topic marriage possession
Date 1874
Language English
Reference
Note
Weblink http://www.gutenberg.org/files/107/107-h/107-h.htm

Context

“Had she felt, which she did not, any wish whatever for the married state in the abstract, she could not reasonably have rejected him, being a woman who frequently appealed to her understanding for deliverance from her whims. Boldwood as a means to marriage was unexceptionable: she esteemed and liked him, yet she did not want him. It appears that ordinary men take wives because possession is not possible without marriage, and that ordinary women accept husbands because marriage is not possible without possession; with totally differing aims the method is the same on both sides. But the understood incentive on the woman's part was wanting here. Besides, Bathsheba's position as absolute mistress of a farm and house was a novel one, and the novelty had not yet begun to wear off.” source

Meaning and analysis

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