The Great Love Depression
Do you think that something as big and popular as marriage can be affected by a
period in time? In the 1920s, divorce was severely frowned upon, therefore it wasn’t
very popular. People often weren’t happy with the person they married because people
married for money instead of love, since divorce wasn’t popular many people chose
adultery over divorce and the 1920s helped us Americans learn from our mistakes.
These are three of the many reasons how the time period affected marriages. Marriages
were affected by the 1920s because women married men for their money and adultery
was very public and common for both sexes.
Marriages were affected by the 1920s because people in marriages often chose
to cheat instead of getting a divorce. Back then, divorce was very, very unpopular. So
even if people were unhappy in their marriages they chose to stay together and commit
adultery. “Miss Baker, honestly surprised, “’I thought everybody knew’” (Fitzgerald 19).
In this quote from The Great Gatsby, Jordan Baker is very surprised that Nick knows
nothing about Tom having an affair, because as you can see she thought everybody
knew. I can't imagine how it would feel if my spouse cheated on me, and flaunted them
around instead of me in front of people like a trophy. This is one HUGE reason that it's
better for people to get a divorce instead of living through the pain and misery, and
without the 1920s we never would have known to not live through it. In 1920 there were
1,274,476 marriages, and 170,505 divorces (www.infoplease.com). This means that just
13% of marriages ended in a divorce, a surprisingly low rate considering that nowadays
40% of marriages end in a divorce (www.infoplease.com). This more than likely is the
result of Americans realizing that adultery was a way worse option than getting a
divorce. They saw that an unhappy marriage is a failed marriage, and that you don't
cheat on your spouse no matter what, because they saw how big an impact cheating
had on marriages in the 1920s. “I want you to meet my girl” (Fitzgerald 29), this is
another quote from The Great Gatsby that shows how little people who cheated tried to
hide it. In this particular case Tom is showing off his mistress to his friend Nick. Showing
off! This is what was very common and almost popular back then and just proves that
marriages weren't exclusive back then 75% of the time, when 0% of marriages should
ever be open. Clearly marriages were catastrophically impacted by the 1920s.
Another way marriages were affected by the 1920s was women married mainly
for money instead of love. Because of the Great Depression women looked for men
who could support them financially instead of marrying the man they loved or even
liked. “Tell’em all Daisy’s change’ her mine” (Fitzgerald 81), this quote is Daisy telling
her bridesmaid, Jordan, she doesn’t want to marry Tom anymore, she wants to marry
the man she loves. She married him because he was a very rich and wealthy man;
therefore he had the ability to support her financially, even though she hardly liked him
as a person. Because of this she and Tom were unable to live happily together, which is
why when she is reunited with Gatsby, her true love, it isn't hard for her to begin a
"behind the scenes" relationship with him. “Today’s women can do whatever they want,
make lots of money and marry for love, not necessity”(answers.yahoo.com), this quote
shows just how much times have changed for marriage, because nowadays women
don’t have to worry about not being able to make money. This prevents marrying for
money because you need to, though some still do it because they want to. It allows
everybody to marry who they want no matter what the social class. Yet another example
of how the 20s changed marriage.
Fast forward to the present day, were people get married for love, and get
divorced instead of cheat. Because of the 1920s, we realize that love is the only reason
to marry someone. Even though nowadays there is no depression, which was why there
was pressure on who you married, I still believe that without those times people would
be marrying for money instead of love still. Not to mention people finally realized that
while divorce isn’t pretty, it is a far better option than committing adultery, or cheating.
Just look were it got Myrtle, Tom's mistress. She was cheating on her husband and fell
so deeply in love with Tom that she ran out in front of his car and got herself killed
(Fitzgerald 138). In the 1920’s, to get divorced was almost against the status-quo, which
is why there weren’t many of them. People today can tell that cheating is far more
embarrassing or shameful than getting a divorce. Plus, imagine if you were married and
had a mistress today. If you went flaunting her around town you are perceived as a
terrible pig that was gross and disgusting. Consider this now, just 13% of marriages
ended in a divorce, a surprisingly low rate considering that nowadays 40% of marriages
end in a divorce (www.infoplease.com), which shows that spouses realized that it's not
the end of the world if they get a divorce, they don't have to live with this horrible person
who views them as just another girl/guy, they can MOVE ON. Times have changed
since the 1920’s, in a far better way in my obviously.
So as you can clearly see, the effect that the 1920’s had on marriage was
tremendous. At the time it could be an awful situation, but in retrospect it was almost a
blessing in disguise. If women hadn’t married for money instead of love we wouldn’t
know just how unhappy a life like that could be. If men, and women, hadn’t cheated and
flaunted their girlfriend/boyfriend instead of getting a divorce, we wouldn’t know how sad
and confusing a life like that could be. So just think about how today’s world would be if
we hadn’t been cheaters and gold diggers back then. Scary thought.
Bibliography
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 1925. Print.
Jay. “Similarities of Women in the 1920s and Today?” answers.yahoo.com.
<answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080507133233AArCtTb>. 10/23/12.
U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services. “Marriages and Divorces, 1900-2009”.
Infoplease.com. <http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0005044.html>. 10/23/12.