# Economic Slavery Again the Root Difficulty explained — Getting Married

> Chapter companion for Getting Married by George Bernard Shaw.

## What happens

This chapter argues that until women achieve economic independence, marriage will remain a form of slavery. It challenges the notion that allowing divorce equates to frivolous abandonment, and questions the government's Labor Exchanges for excluding wives and mothers from employment services, thereby reinforcing women's economic dependence.

## Themes in this chapter

### Economic Dependence of Women

The chapter centers on the argument that women's economic dependence on husbands makes marriage a form of slavery, and that true reform requires economic independence.

### Critique of Marriage as an Institution

Marriage is described as a 'slavery' when women lack economic independence, and the chapter defends the right to divorce without moral condemnation.

## Key lines

> The husband, then, is to be allowed to discard his wife when he is tired of her, and the wife the husband when another man strikes her fancy? One must reply unhesitatingly in the affirmative; for if we are to deny every proposition that can be stated in offensive terms by its opponents, we shall never be able to affirm anything at all.

If we refuse to accept any idea just because opponents describe it in harsh terms, we will never be able to support anything. So yes, both spouses should be free to leave a marriage when they wish.

_The author defends the principle of divorce against a loaded rhetorical question._

> But the question reminds us that until the economic independence of women is achieved, we shall have to remain impaled on the other horn of the dilemma and maintain marriage as a slavery.

This question highlights that without women's economic freedom, we are stuck with marriage being a form of bondage.

_The core thesis: economic dependence forces women into marital servitude._

> What do these Exchanges do when a woman enters and states that her occupation is that of a wife and mother; that she is out of a job; and that she wants an employer? If the Exchanges refuse to entertain her application, they are clearly excluding nearly the whole female sex from the benefit of the Act.

If a woman goes to a Labor Exchange and says her job is being a wife and mother but she is unemployed, what happens? If they reject her, they are excluding most women from the law's benefits.

_The author critiques the Labor Exchanges for not recognizing domestic work as legitimate employment._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/getting_married_se/chapters/economic-slavery-again-the-root-difficulty
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/getting_married_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/getting_married_se/chapters