# Conclusions explained — Getting Married

> Chapter companion for Getting Married by George Bernard Shaw.

## What happens

Shaw argues that the solution to making sexual relations decent and honorable lies in women's economic independence and the ability to dissolve unhappy marriages. He criticizes the current system of specifying grounds for divorce, advocating for divorce by mutual consent without the need to prove misconduct.

## Themes in this chapter

### Economic Dependence of Women

Shaw emphasizes that women's economic independence is essential for decent sexual relations.

### Divorce and Legal Reform

Shaw advocates for no-fault divorce, arguing that specifying grounds leads to public disgrace and manufactured cases.

## Key lines

> we have to depend on the solution of the problem of unemployment, probably on the principles laid down in the Minority Report of the Royal Commission on the Poor Law, to make the sexual relations between men and women decent and honorable by making women economically independent of men

Shaw argues that solving unemployment, following the Minority Report's principles, will make sexual relations decent by ensuring women's economic independence.

_Shaw links economic reform to moral reform in marriage._

> the only effect of compelling people to plead and prove misconduct is that cases are manufactured and clean linen purposely smirched and washed in public, to the great distress and disgrace of innocent children and relatives

Requiring proof of misconduct in divorce only leads to fabricated cases and public scandal, harming innocent family members.

_Shaw criticizes the adversarial divorce system for causing unnecessary harm._

> the sensible thing to do then is to grant divorce whenever it is desired, without asking why

The rational approach is to allow divorce on demand, without requiring any reason.

_Shaw advocates for no-fault divorce as the logical conclusion of broad grounds like 'conduct rendering life burdensome.'_

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/getting_married_se/chapters/conclusions
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/getting_married_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/getting_married_se/chapters