Marriage is the most truly subversive act that both founds democracy and yet renders it absolute in terms of its commitment to the common good.
Many of the most famous works of literature celebrate exactly this: Romeo and Juliet, The Marriage of Figaro, I Promessi Sposi. The aristocratic order, concerned only with lineages of power and the droit de seigneur, is thwarted by the consensual love of equals. In league with an equally revolutionary celibate clergy, the couples exercise their Christian right to become one flesh, if necessary against the wishes of parents and especially of that of fathers.
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