Marriage

"It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages," said philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. The texts in this collection depict happy and unhappy marriages—and those that fall somewhere in between.

Publication year 1856

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Marriage, Society: Class, Emotions/Behavior: Apathy

Tags Classic Fiction, French Literature, Realism

Madame Bovary is a foundational realist novel. Authored by the esteemed French writer Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880), Madame Bovary was first released through serialization in 1856, and then formally published as Flaubert’s debut novel in 1857. Madame Bovary is one of the earliest examples of realism in literature and is credited with helping to develop the importance of psychological realism in literature. It is a love story, a vociferous critique of the ways in which society... Read Madame Bovary Summary


Publication year 1903

Genre Play, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Marriage

Tags Satire, Irish Literature

In an epistolary preface to Man and Superman (1903), Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw writes a letter to Arthur Bingham Walkley, his friend and a theatre critic for The Times, who had inspired the play by asking Shaw why he had never written a play based on Don Juan, the legendary fictional Spanish lothario. This presented a particular challenge for Shaw, who had been writing works that challenged the popular romanticism that dominated theatre at... Read Man And Superman Summary


Publication year 1921

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Marriage, Society: Class, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Values/Ideas: Art

Tags Romance, Classic Fiction


Publication year 1952

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Marriage, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality


Publication year 2023

Genre Biography, Nonfiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Identity: Race, Relationships: Marriage, Society: Community, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Equality

Tags History: U.S., Race / Racism


Publication year 1953

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Marriage

Tags Black Arts Movement, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, African American Literature, Race / Racism, Education, Education, American Literature, Classic Fiction

Maud Martha (1953) is a fictional narrative by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gwendolyn Brooks. The book is written in an experimental style combining poetic language and a nonlinear narrative. Each chapter is a vignette, a quick glimpse into an everyday scene in the life of the title character. Brooks’s only novel, Maud Martha was praised for its depiction of ordinary people and everyday life in Chicago. This guide is based upon the 1993 Third World Press... Read Maud Martha Summary


Publication year 2015

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Marriage, Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Values/Ideas: Fate

Tags Romance, Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Marriage, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Emotions/Behavior: Gratitude, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Joy, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Life/Time: Midlife, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Friendship, Self Discovery, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Magical Realism, Romance, Fantasy


Genre Play, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Relationships: Marriage

Tags Mythology, Play: Tragedy, Classic Fiction, Ancient Greece, Education, Education, Drama / Tragedy, Fantasy

Medea is a tragic play written by the ancient Greek playwright Euripides. It was composed in 431 BCE as Euripides’s entry for the Dionysia, an important religious festival and theatrical competition in the city of Athens. Though Medea placed third in the competition that year, it has since become one of Euripides’s most popular works, enjoying special attention for its nuanced treatment of revenge and domestic strife and for the complexity of its lead character... Read Medea Summary


Publication year 1987

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Relationships: Marriage, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Life/Time: The Past, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia

Tags Lyric Poem, Free verse, Confessional, WWII / World War II, Relationships


Publication year 1992

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Relationships: Marriage, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Emotions/Behavior: Love

Tags Self Help, Psychology, Relationships, Love / Sexuality, Philosophy, Philosophy, Psychology, Romance

Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus (1992) is a self-help and personal development book by American author John Gray. The book is designed to help couples improve their relationships by accepting how different men and women are. Although the book was initially met with critical acclaim, it has lost popularity due to critiques about sexist content and the book’s worldview. Although this is Gray’s best-known work, Gray has published many similar books concerned... Read Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus Summary


Publication year 1952

Genre Essay Collection, Nonfiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Relationships: Marriage

Tags Religion / Spirituality, Christian literature, Philosophy, Philosophy, Classic Fiction

Mere Christianity by Clive Staples Lewis (more commonly known as C. S. Lewis) was first published in 1952 as an expansion of some radio talks Lewis gave during World War II. Though Lewis is best known for his children’s fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia (particularly The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe), Mere Christianity is likely Lewis’s most famous work of Christian apologetics—a genre dedicated to addressing various critiques of Christian theology.  Lewis was... Read Mere Christianity Summary


Publication year 1998

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Values/Ideas: Fate, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Regret, Relationships: Fathers, Relationships: Friendship, Relationships: Marriage, Self Discovery, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

Tags Romance, Southern Literature

Message in a Bottle (1998) is the second novel by Nicholas Sparks, the follow-up to his incredibly popular romance, The Notebook. It was inspired by Sparks’s father’s experience after the sudden and unexpected death of Sparks’s mother. They’d been married for 27 years when an accident on a horse led her to develop a cerebral hemorrhage. It was a fluke, a random accident, just like the one that claims Catherine’s life and that of her... Read Message In A Bottle Summary


Publication year 1871

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Marriage, Society: Community, Society: Class

Tags Classic Fiction, Victorian Period, Historical Fiction, British Literature, History: World, Romance, Victorian Literature / Period

Middlemarch or Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life is a Victorian realist novel by George Eliot (the penname of Mary Ann Evans). Published over the course of 1871-72, the novel depicts the trials and tribulations of life in the small English town of Middlemarch. The novel has been hailed as one of the greatest works of English literature and has been adapted for radio, television, theater, and opera. Other works by Eliot include The Lifted... Read Middlemarch Summary


Publication year 1941

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Society: Class, Relationships: Mothers, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Identity: Mental Health, Relationships: Marriage, Identity: Gender

Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Relationships, Parenting, Class, Business / Economics, Finance / Money / Wealth, Great Depression, American Literature, Love / Sexuality, Gender / Feminism, History: World, Historical Fiction, Classic Fiction


Publication year 1722

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Identity: Femininity, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Relationships: Marriage, Society: Class, Society: Colonialism, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Identity: Gender

Tags Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, British Literature, History: World

Published in 1722, The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe tells the life story of a woman who carves her own path through late 17th-century England and North America. Like Defoe’s first novel, Robinson Crusoe, this work also tells the tale of a singular individual who overcomes adversity—in her case, extreme poverty—to become considerably wealthy. Moll Flanders is a wife, a thief, a sex worker, and an impresario. She is... Read Moll Flanders Summary


Publication year 1999

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Society: Immigration, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Relationships: Marriage, Identity: Gender

Tags Indian Literature


Publication year 2009

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Marriage, Relationships: Mothers, Relationships: Siblings, Society: Class, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice


Publication year 1598

Genre Play, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Relationships: Marriage, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal

Tags Classic Fiction, Elizabethan Era, Play: Comedy / Satire, Modern Classic Fiction, Love / Sexuality, Relationships, Class, Gender / Feminism, Renaissance, Education, Education, Romance, Humor

Much Ado About Nothing, a comedy dating from the mid-career period of William Shakespeare was probably written just prior to 1600. The play has the trappings of a theatrical farce with its use of assumptions and misunderstandings. Main characters Benedick and Beatrice are duped into announcing their love for each other while Claudio is fooled into spurning Hero at the altar when he mistakenly believes that she has not been faithful to him. The theme of lovers being tricked... Read Much Ado About Nothing Summary


Publication year 1930

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Marriage, Society: Class, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice

Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Classic Fiction, British Literature

Published in 1930, Murder at the Vicarage is Agatha Christie’s first novel featuring the elderly detective Miss Marple. The character first appears in a 1927 short story entitled “The Tuesday Murder Club.” In Murder at the Vicarage, unpopular bully Colonel Protheroe dies from a gunshot wound in the study of St. Mary Mead’s Vicarage. All suspects have an alibi, including the victim’s wife and her lover, who each admits guilt to divert suspicion from the... Read Murder at the Vicarage Summary