riage state
there is no morality without love. A woman who remains the wife
of a man whom she despises, or does not love, corrupts her soul.
She becomes degraded, polluted, and feels that her flesh has been
soiled. Under such circumstances a good woman suffers the agonies
of moral death. It may be said that the woman can leave her husband;
that she is not compelled to live in the same house or to occupy
the same room. If she has the right to leave, has she the right
to get a new house? Should a woman be punished for having married?
Women do not marry the wrong men on purpose. Thousands of mistakes
are made--are these mistakes sacred? Must they be preserved to
please God?

What good can it do God to keep people married who hate each other?
What good can it do the community to keep such people together?

_Question_. Do you consider marriage a contract or a sacrament?

_Answer_. Marriage is the most important contract that human beings
can make. No matter whether it is called a contract or a sacrament,
it remains the same. A true marriage is a natural concord or
agreement of souls--a harmony in which discord is not even imagined.
It is a mingling so perfect that only one seems to exist. All
other considerations are lost. The present seems eternal. In this
supreme moment there is no shadow, or the shadow is as luminous as
light.

When two beings thus love, thus united, this is the true marriage
of soul and soul. The idea of contract is lost. Duty and obligation
are instantly changed into desire and joy, and two lives, like
uniting streams, flow on as one.

This is real marriage.

Now, if the man turns out to be a wild beast, if he destroys the
happiness of the wife, why should she remain his victim?

If she wants a divorce, she should have it. The divorce will not
hurt God or the community. As a matter of fact, it will save a
life.

No man not poisoned by superstition will object to the release of
an abused wife. In such a case only savages can object to divorce.
The man who wants courts and legislatures to force a woman to live
with him is a monster.

_Question_. Do you believe that the divorced should be allowed to
marry again?

_Answer_. Certainly. Has the woman whose rights have been outraged
no right to build another home? Must this woman, full of kindness,
affection and health, be chained until death releases her? Is
there no future for her? Must she be an outcast forever? Can