Without any doubt, marriage belongs to the most vital steps in life, since it shapes the personal choices as for getting education, establishing the career, and giving birth to the children. It is an important bond that unites man and woman into the single unit – a family. Successful marriage depends on the selection of the right partner. That is where an arranged marriage can be useful. By the definition, arranged marriage is a marriage between man and woman which involves choosing the appropriate spouse. The parents are responsible for this selection. In most cases, the parents indicate their demands: religious belonging, economic status, educational level, appearance, social status of the future spouse. On this basis, they negotiate and choose a fiancé/ fiancée who they think may be appropriate for their children. According to the definition mentioned above, arranged marriage is not a forced marriage or a blind wedding. Before the celebrating ceremonies, the spouses are introduced to each other and if someone does not like the other person, he/ she can refuse to be married. Moreover, with the development of the modern world, the parents can make a blank of their child in the online Internet services, in which they describe their child, its appearance, religious, education, and taste, put their demanding criteria, and download it into the Internet. In this case, the future selecting process of the significant other can be established. It is generally true that arranged marriage is geographically widespread in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Pakistan, and India. However, there were many examples of arranged marriages in Victorian Europe. For instance, in England, arranged marriages between the kings and queens had been very popular up until King George V. Furthermore, this type of marriage persisted as norm in upper-class society until the mid-20th century.
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Nowadays, the issue of arranging the marriage by the parents of the couple becomes very complicated, since it is difficult to clarify the advantages and disadvantages of this type of marriage. On the one hand, some people assert that arranged marriage restricts the personal freedom, creates discomfort for the couple, and leads to the high rate of violence. On the other hand, the supporters of arranged marriage claim that this marriage is the most innocent and blessed marriage, since the parents have done everything they can in order to make the best match for their children. Weighting the pros and cons of arranged marriage, it is generally accepted that this type of marriage is winning the decisive victory, since there are a lot of reasons that show an absolute beneficial results of it.
First of all, the risk of the incompatibility is decreased. It can be amplified by the process of the selection of the spouses by the parents. The relatives, particularly parents, put their demands on which they base the process of approving the spouse. It is a very crucial and rational step, since the spouses will belong to the same type of culture, speak the same language, profess the same religion, and have a more or less the same economic, and social status in their country. Moreover, this advantage of the marriage matching by the parents is very beneficial, because it will make the communication between the spouses easier and more understandable, as the result of the same ethnical belonging. This will lead to the considerable reduction of the possible disagreements or divorce between the spouses (Divorce soars in India's middle class, 2005).
Secondly, the idea of divorce is unthinkable. It is one of the most vital advantages of arranged marriage. It can be explicated by the fact that man and woman have the same views on the family, upbringing of the future children, and inclinations to social and political changes. There is no place left for disputes or irreconcilable differences. Furthermore, arranged marriage can highly improve the social standing of the family. According to the statistics, in Saudi Arabia, the divorce rate is about 2000 cases in 2008. On the contrary, the divorce rate in the United Kingdom is 136, 000 in 2008 (Thuy Dao, 2011).
Thirdly, the last but not least advantage of arranged marriage is the support and trust from an in-low family. In Western civilization, where arranged marriages are not very popular, the meddling of in-low parents into the marriage of their children is depicted as an unlikable and complicated issue. The absolute contrast can be observed in arranged marriage, since the presence of the parents in the decision-makings by the couple is very important. It is needless to say, when the couple has some disagreements or trouble with the financial conditions, it is necessary for parents to solve them, as they have built this family and it is their obligation to support it. Moreover, when both spouses work, the parents should take care of the grandchildren. It is a prosperous opportunity occurring in arranged marriage that the children are under supervision of their mature grandparents, who will bring them up according to their nationality, religion, culture, and economic standing (Advantages and disadvantages of arranged marriages, ND).
However, besides the advantages, there exist some disadvantages of arranged marriage. It cannot be denied that in arranged marriage the dependence of choosing the partner is keenly felt. The spouses are deprived of rights to make their own choice. Instead of dating and the wonderful walks in parks, the spouses sit at home and wait for their parents to do “this work”. Additionally, another disadvantage of arranged marriage is love perceived as the second priority. In the countries, where arranged marriages are in practice, there is a saying: “Make the decisions with your head, but not with your heart”. It is common to believe that love will flourish when the spouses adhere to basic norms and keep chastity. The supporters of arranged marriage usually assert that romantic love will come later and it is an alarming time to reflect about a stable future (Arranged marriage – Why or Why not?, 2008).
All in all, arranged marriage is a customary type of marriage, widespread all around the world. This marriage is an undoubtedly profound opportunity to bond the relationships between man and woman on the basis of a clear, experienced, and clever choice of their parents. The parents have done everything in order to provide their children with the necessities of life and made a good selection of the significant other. They have established a new-born family on the basis of the absolute equality, religious beliefs, and socioeconomic status. Through the help of the selective process, they have reduced the possible appearing of the conflicts in their children’s family. Furthermore, the process of choosing the spouse has a new outlook: it is less stressful and challenging for the young people. They are not worried about their significant other, since their family has taken care of the marriage. It is needless to say, that this type of marriage can guarantee tight bonds between man and women, reduce the rate of divorce and establish strong family relationship.