Early marriages.

Text A:

The generation of today’s young people often shocks their grandparents: smoking and drinking openly; magazines with naked girls and muscular boys, kissing in public and listening to music – all that can drive the old mad. Add to this list early marriages, and the picture we nave got has nothing to do with the life of the young 50 ears ago. Or does it?

I go agree that smoking, drinking and so on were not as popular before as they are now; but marriages, when the girl and the boy were under 30, were a common thing. If we go further and remember some pieces of literature, we will learn that Romeo and Juliet had no gray hair when they decided to get married. The same with Natasha Rostova from War and Peace by Tolstoy. Of course, you may object by saying that these are only invented characters; but let’s not forget that Shakespeare and Tolstoy did not write fantasy, but were quite realistic writers and reflected the real life of their epoch. Hence, we can conclude that early marriages were normal for people in Great Britain as well as in Russia.

In that case why do we get so much attention to young couples today, expecting their separation one or two weeks after the wedding? While young, people can become close to each other much more easily than people in their `30s-`40s. Youth has a big advantage, consisting in flexibility of mind; while “grown-ups” have their habits and traditions, which can not simply be sacrificed even for those whom they are deeply in live with.

Moreover, do not forget such an important factor as health which gives the possibility to give birth to healthy children. I suppose somebody can say that having children while you are a baby yourself is a scandal, and I think I would agree with this point of view.

Nevertheless, people need to acquire some life experience, and without trying to act in this or that way it is impossible to become the personality. Children are a good test of the love of the couple, because not every man and not every woman will be able to give 50% of his or her time to the family.

Babies are an extremely interesting world and, having a small human in your hands, you not only share your experience with this newly born creature, but learn lots of things about yourself. In other words, you get experience that will help you in the future.

And after many years, when the child growth up, his parents will still remain young and the gap, that often separates different generations because of the difference in their age, will not be visible. Consequently, it will result in comprehension and even maybe in friendship between children and parents, which is, in my opinion, one of the best things in the world.

By Alevtina Kozina

Text B:

When my best friend told me she was going to get married, I was really surprised. “Marriage at 19?” – I asked myself. And I was very doubtful that things like this have serious reasons. Explaining such an important act in her life, my friend just said: “Well, I just want to try out what marriage can be – it is interesting for me”. And, to my surprise, everything turned out to be not so bad, and now they are doing well, I suppose.

So I decided to analyse everything that comes to mind when hearing of “early marriages”.

What makes a young couple decide to get married? Unfortunately, it mostly happens because the girl is pregnant – this is the quickest and the most frequent way of making an early marriage, but here everything is absolutely clear and banal. I’d like to search for other, more reliable reasons.

I think some young people, like my friend, just want to see what it is like to be married. They little imagine what awaits them, that is why they are less cautious than those who have already had such an experience. And of course, youthful maximalism plays role. The young are often more sure of their forces and possibilities then someone of an other age. And what is the most amazing; it is not a useless risk. Young married couples discover all that new together, and they are in the same “wave length”. The major danger in this situation is the egoism of each of them. In this case, they loose this “wave length” and their marriage begins to sink.

Another problem in my view is having too little money. Early marriages almost always involve money dependence on parents. The parents often don’t spoil them. Such couples cannot themselves afford to constantly go to the cinema, buy new clothes, rest at Nice, for example. And here they begin to think seriously whether they really love each other or not. Or would they rather have a great number of comfortable things. But if parents spoil their married children with money, it is a pity, for they doom themselves to do it all their life.

And the most typical for early married couples is that everybody tries to teach them how to do this or that. Such pressure usually causes serious conflicts, but this exactly stimulates a young couple to become more independent.

As to the most important and the most dangerous thing, which may happen to our young heroes, is their disappointment in each other. Very rarely it is possible for them to find the strength to fight against it and forgive the mistakes of their partner. It is also easier for a young couple to divorce because they are young. There is nothing to explain. Anyway, early marriages show if you really need your partner and how much you can suffer for him or her.

Surely it is impossible to mention all the problems which rise when an early marriage happens. And I think it is useless to criticize those who decided to get married at the age of 16-19. Everything always depends only on the couple itself. Of course, it is necessary to mention, that some become adults earlier than others. A system of values can be formed in some persons surprisingly early and they potentially can be ready for a young marriage.

It is important to remember also that some young persons just do not have enough courage to stay along and be independent. Living with parents stimulates them to become sure of themselves, to achieve self-realization. But if they find courage to get married, it is already not a small thing. It is important that heir courage be enough to sustain the relationship. It is very hard. So only the strongest and the most patient can do it.

As for me, I believe in a destiny for everyone, and that, anyway, she will present us with what she thinks has to be. And an early marriage, it is just one of the possibilities, which checks people’s feelings; the first feelings and their ability not to turn off from the chosen way, the first way.

By Maria Yaylenko

1. Discuss the problem of young marriages in groups.

2. Make a list of advantages and disadvantages of young marriages.

Unit six

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