Intro

            One theme that has been used as either a sub-plot or a subliminal message throughout the ages in English literature is the relationship between a married man and woman.  While many sonnets and love poems have made the focus more on the pursuit of a woman by a man, other texts passively provide information on the culmination of these pursuits: marriage by providing examples of both husband and wife.  Some authors present married live as synonymous to love, fidelity, and monogamy; certain authors of other eras have chosen to present the more realistic concept of broken marriages and unsavory relationships between men and their wives.  These shifts in relationship dynamics between a married couple could be explained by the shifting of power caused by women gaining rights throughout the years.  It also is probably worth mentioning that the relationships could be the world-weary opinions of the authors themselves or an honest critique of marriage at that time in society, but there is no way of knowing for sure at this point in time.