Name: Marriage, As It Was, As It Is, and As It Should Be: A Plea for Reform by Besant
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.8333333333333 (12 reviews)
Author: Besant, Annie, 1847-1933

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Marriage, As It Was, As It Is, and As It Should Be: A Plea for Reform by Besant

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By Dylan Martin Posted on Mar 18, 2026

In Category - Creative Living

Authors: Besant, Annie, 1847-1933 Published By : Besant, Annie, 1847-1933

Book Language: English

Hey, I just read this wild book from 1879 that feels like it could have been written yesterday. It's called 'Marriage, As It Was, As It Is, and As It Should Be' by Annie Besant. This isn't a romance novel—it's a full-throated, furious manifesto. Besant takes the Victorian institution of marriage, holds it up to the light, and shows you all the cracks. She argues that the marriage laws of her time turned women into legal property, stripped them of their rights, and trapped them in miserable, sometimes dangerous, situations with no escape. The central conflict is brutal in its simplicity: society's sacred ideal of marriage versus the grim, often cruel, legal reality for women living inside it. Reading it, you keep thinking, 'They really let her publish this?' It's shocking, radical, and a powerful reminder of how recently the fight for basic equality within marriage began. If you've ever wondered about the roots of modern relationships, this is essential, eye-opening history.

File: Marriage, As It Was, As It Is, and As It Should Be: A Plea for Reform by Besant

Published in 1879, Annie Besant's book is less a story with characters and more a direct argument. She lays out her case with the precision of a lawyer and the passion of a reformer. The 'plot' is the journey of marriage itself through three stages.

The Story

Besant starts by examining marriage 'as it was,' looking at historical practices. She then spends most of her energy on marriage 'as it is' in Victorian England. This is where she gets specific and scathing. She details the laws: how a woman's property and earnings became her husband's upon marriage, how she had no legal right to her children, and how divorce was nearly impossible and ruinously expensive for anyone but the very rich. She paints a picture of a legal trap, where a wife ceased to be a person under the law. Finally, she argues for what marriage 'should be': a voluntary contract between equals, based on mutual affection and respect, with easy divorce available when that affection dies.

Why You Should Read It

What grabbed me wasn't just the historical facts, but the raw anger and clarity of Besant's voice. You can feel her frustration on every page. She doesn't use dry academic language; she calls the system what she sees it as: unjust and barbaric. Reading this in the 21st century is a strange experience. Some parts will make you nod in recognition (her arguments for no-fault divorce sound remarkably modern), while others are a stark reminder of how far we've come. It makes you appreciate the courage it took to publish this. She was risking her reputation and her livelihood to say these things out loud.

Final Verdict

This book is perfect for anyone interested in women's history, social justice, or the evolution of relationships. It's not a light read, but it's a short and powerful one. Think of it as a primary source from the front lines of a social revolution. If you enjoyed the ideas in a show like Bridgerton but want to know what the real fight for autonomy looked like, this is your book. It’s a foundational text that helps explain why we argue about marriage, equality, and personal freedom the way we do today.