In the modern age, society was structured according to different organisational and mental parameters. There was a division of society along the lines of the estates, in which the ambition of all the social groups behind the privileged was to improve their social and economic situation. Under this premise, marriage constituted a gateway to improve the family situation. That is why love was not a determining element in the marriage of the spouses. In addition to the need for socio-economic advancement, there was the absolute power of the parents to approve the marriage. This fragment illustrates a frustrated love between a couple who are separated by the marital conveniences sought by their parents. In this case, José Sánchez’s father forces his son to marry a well-to-do woman against his will. Consequently, José Sánchez writes to his beloved informing her of the situation. This is evidence that rigid social mechanisms in modern times coerced men and women, putting them at the absolute disposal of the need to improve the family situation. In this case, by arranging marriages that would give the family a step up the social ladder.
Collection: Texts
Chronology: XVIII
Scope: Secondary Education, Baccalaureate, University
Link: https://rua.ua.es/dspace/bitstream/10045/59304/1/RHM_34.pdf
Resource type: Historical source
Source: Archivo Diocesano de Zaragoza, Jactancias, Zaragoza, 1756, Lig. 6
Language: Spanish
Date: 1756
Owner: Djebril Bouzidi (Modernalia)
Identifier: Archivo Diocesano de Zaragoza, Jactancias, Zaragoza, 1756, Lig. 6
Abstract: Letter written by José Sánchez to his beloved Gerónima informing her that her father has imposed another woman on him in order to arrange a marriage, and he urges her to forget their romance
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