Research Paper on:
Marriage from a Colonial Perspective

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
the Puritans were not as offended about sex as one might think. The paper includes several quotes from authors who wrote about the colonial lives and times. A  PORTRAIT OF MARRIAGE In glancing through several texts on the Puritans and their sense of religion, marriage, and life in general, there seem to be three themes that run through  the texts regarding marriage. While these themes might at once be at odds with each other, the fact is they are there and many people have formed opinions based  on just a few quick pages read in a book. MARRIAGE: THE NECESSARY AND PROPER THING FOR ALL Of course in the days of the Puritans it was only  proper that women must get married before they reach a certain age or they would be considered an old maid, or spinster. This was a fate young girls felt  was the worst thing that could befall them - to not find a suitor would cause them terrible shame. Even if the marriage was not to the most handsome man,  or if it was to somebody she didnt even like, marriage was considered the only proper thing to do once one reached a certain age. As Elisabeth S. Dodds  writes in Marriage to a Difficult Man: The Uncommon Union of Jonathan and Sarah Edwards, "The Puritans loved robustly and gave marriage an honored place in their social order" (1997  PG). But some of these marriages turned out to be quite good unions, as this book explains that "Edwardss love for Sarah and this "uncommon union" produced 11  children and inspired one of his most melting sermons, from Genesis 2:21-25 (when Adam rose from his deep sleep God brought woman to him from near his heart)" (1997, PG).