A History of Matrimonial Institutions, Vol. 1 of 3Howard, George Elliott
History
A History of Matrimonial Institutions, Vol. 1 of 3
Howard, George Elliott
Families; Marriage -- History
[465] _Ibid._, 264-66. On the influence of ancestor-worship and
the sense of propriety, see WAKE, _op. cit._, chaps.
vii and xii, 227 ff., 234, 435 ff. _Cf._ SPENCER,
_op. cit._, I, 691, 697; and on monogamy, LETOURNEAU,
_L'évolution du mariage_, chaps. xix, ii; POST,
_Familienrecht_, 72 ff.
So we come back to the starting-point. The complex phenomena of
human sexual relations have been examined in the light of scientific
criticism and recent research. The result seems unmistakably to show
that pairing has always been the typical form of human marriage.
Early monogamy takes its rise beyond the border-line separating
man from the lower animals. But, considering the aberrations from
the type, development has been in a circle.[466] At the dawn of
human history individual marriage prevails, though the union is not
always lasting. In later stages of advancement, under the influence
of property, social organization, social distinctions, and the
motives to which they gave rise, various forms of polyandry and
polygyny make their appearance, though monogamy as the type is never
superseded. "Nothing, indeed, is more favourable to polygyny," says
Westermarck, "than social differentiation."[467] In its "highest and
regulated form," declares Morgan, "it presupposes a considerable
advance of society, together with the development of superior and
inferior classes, and of some kinds of wealth."[468] Furthermore
there is direct evidence in some cases that a transition from
monogamy has actually occurred.[469] At a still more advanced stage
of culture, under pressure of those influences which have led to
the social elevation of woman, polygyny yields in turn to monogamy.
"When the feelings of women are held in due respect, monogamy will
necessarily be the only recognized form of marriage. In no way
does the progress of mankind show itself more clearly than in the
increased acknowledgment of women's rights, and the causes which,
at lower stages of development, may make polygyny desired by women
themselves, do not exist in highly civilized societies. The refined
feeling of love, depending chiefly upon mutual sympathy and upon
appreciation of mental qualities, is scarcely compatible with
polygynous habits; and the passion for one has gradually become more
absorbing."[470] But the later monogamy differs from the earlier in
one important characteristic. The primitive monogamy "is not a form
of marriage which can be regarded as the expression of a marriage
law; that is, it is not a form of marriage which is striving for
the mastery, and which cannot tolerate other co-existent forms of
marriage. On the other hand the later monogamy, which arises from a
distinct condemnation of polygamy, or from a secret aversion to it,
is characterized by self-assertion, and seeks to exclude other forms
of marriage."[471]
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