''Married Love or Love in Marriage'' is a book by British academic
Marie Stopes
Marie Charlotte Carmichael Stopes (15 October 1880 – 2 October 1958) was a British author, palaeobotanist and campaigner for eugenics and women's rights. She made significant contributions to plant palaeontology and coal classification, ...
. It was one of the first books openly to discuss
birth control
Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...
.
The book begins by stating that "More than ever to-day are happy homes needed. It is my hope that this book may serve the State by adding to their number. Its object is to increase the joys of marriage, and to show how much sorrow may be avoided."
The preface states that a book geared to teaching married couples how to have a happy marriage, including 'great sex'
- and it was thus offering a service to 'the State' by reducing the number of people affected by failed marriages.
The central question is how can the "desire for freedom"
and "physical and mental exploration" be balanced with the limits of monogamy and raising a family.
The answer is not "in the freedom to wander at will" but a "full and perfected love". In Stopes'
lexicography
Lexicography is the study of lexicons, and is divided into two separate academic disciplines. It is the art of compiling dictionaries.
* Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries.
* Theoretica ...
love means sex and "access to the knowledge of how to cultivate it".
Publishing history
Stopes had already published books based upon her work as a research scientist. However, the publishers - both academic and mainstream - she approached for ''Married Love'' felt the subject matter too controversial and turned it down. Its publication was finally financed by
Humphrey Roe, a Manchester businessman and birth control campaigner, who Stopes would later marry. Roe paid the £200 required by the small publishing firm Fifield & Co. who published ''Married Love'' in March 1918.
It rapidly sold out, and was in its sixth printing within a
fortnight
A fortnight is a unit of time equal to 14 days (two weeks). The word derives from the Old English term , meaning "" (or "fourteen days," since the Anglo-Saxons counted by nights).
Astronomy and tides
In astronomy, a ''lunar fortnight'' is h ...
.
The
US Customs Service
The United States Customs Service was the very first federal law enforcement agency of the U.S. federal government. Established on July 31, 1789, it collected import tariffs, performed other selected border security duties, as well as conducted ...
banned the book as obscene until April 6, 1931, when Judge
John M. Woolsey
John Munro Woolsey (January 3, 1877 – May 4, 1945) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. He was known "for his brilliant and poignantly phrased decisions", including severa ...
overturned that decision. Woolsey was the same judge who in 1933 would lift the ban on
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...
's ''
Ulysses
Ulysses is one form of the Roman name for Odysseus, a hero in ancient Greek literature.
Ulysses may also refer to:
People
* Ulysses (given name), including a list of people with this name
Places in the United States
* Ulysses, Kansas
* Ulysse ...
'', allowing for its publication and circulation in the United States of America.
It was the first book to note that women's sexual desire coincides with
ovulation
Ovulation is the release of eggs from the ovaries. In women, this event occurs when the ovarian follicles rupture and release the secondary oocyte ovarian cells. After ovulation, during the luteal phase, the egg will be available to be fertilized ...
and the period right before
menstruation
Menstruation (also known as a period, among other colloquial terms) is the regular discharge of blood and mucosal tissue from the inner lining of the uterus through the vagina. The menstrual cycle is characterized by the rise and fall of hor ...
. The book argued that marriage should be an equal relationship between partners. Although officially scorned in the UK, the book went through 19 editions and sales of almost 750,000 copies by 1931.
In 1935 a survey of American academics said ''Married Love'' was one of the 25 most influential books of the previous 50 years, ahead of ''
Relativity'' by
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...
, ''
Interpretation of Dreams'' by
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies explained as originatin ...
, ''
Mein Kampf
(; ''My Struggle'' or ''My Battle'') is a 1925 autobiographical manifesto by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler. The work describes the process by which Hitler became antisemitic and outlines his political ideology and future plans for Germ ...
'' by
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
and ''
The Economic Consequences of the Peace'' by
John Maynard Keynes
John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes, ( ; 5 June 1883 – 21 April 1946), was an English economist whose ideas fundamentally changed the theory and practice of macroeconomics and the economic policies of governments. Originally trained in ...
.
The book was the basis for a 1923 British silent film adaptation ''
Married Love
''Married Love or Love in Marriage'' is a book by British academic Marie Stopes. It was one of the first books openly to discuss birth control.
The book begins by stating that "More than ever to-day are happy homes needed. It is my hope that thi ...
'' directed by
Alexander Butler
Alexander Butler was a British film director who made over sixty features and short films during the 1910s and 1920s including many for G. B. Samuelson's production company. Butler directed several British films in Hollywood in 1920, where Samuel ...
.
In popular culture
# ''
Downton Abbey
''Downton Abbey'' is a British historical drama television series set in the early 20th century, created and co-written by Julian Fellowes. The series first aired in the United Kingdom on ITV on 26 September 2010 and in the United States on P ...
'' (Series 4, Episode 4): Housekeeper Mrs. Hughes (
Phyllis Logan
Phyllis Logan (born 11 January 1956) is a Scottish actress, known for playing Lady Jane Felsham in ''Lovejoy'' (1986–1993) and Mrs Hughes (later Carson) in ''Downton Abbey'' (2010–2015). She won the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer f ...
) says it is impossible for lady's maid Edna Braithwaite (Myanna Burring) to be pregnant because Edna owns a copy of ''Married Love'', suggesting that she understands methods of birth control, and therefore could not be pregnant by Tom Branson (
Allen Leech
Allen Leech (born 18 May 1981) is an Irish actor best known for his role as Tom Branson on the historical drama series ''Downton Abbey'' and as Paul Prenter in the 2018 biopic ''Bohemian Rhapsody''. He made his professional acting debut with a ...
).
#''Downton Abbey'' (Series 5, Episodes 2, 3, and 6): In Episode 2 of the fifth series, Lady Mary (
Michelle Dockery
Michelle Suzanne Dockery (born 15 December 1981) is an English television and film actress. She is best known for her leading performance as Lady Mary Crawley in the ITV television period drama series ''Downton Abbey'' (2010–2015), for which ...
) has a copy of the book, which she uses to ensure her week-long dalliance with Lord Gillingham (
Tom Cullen
Thomas Cullen (born 17 July 1985) is a Welsh actor and director. He had roles in the independent film '' Weekend'' (2011), as Anthony Foyle, Viscount Gillingham in the television series ''Downton Abbey'', and as Sir Landry in the historical d ...
) has no "unwanted epilogue". In Episode 3 she asks for her lady's maid Anna Bates (
Joanne Froggatt
Joanne Froggatt (born 23 August 1980) is a British actress. From 2010 to 2015, she portrayed Anna Bates in the ITV period drama series ''Downton Abbey''. For this role, she received three Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a ...
) to hide the book and the contraceptive device (most likely a
cervical cap
The cervical cap is a form of barrier contraception. A cervical cap fits over the cervix and blocks sperm from entering the uterus through the external orifice of the uterus, called the ''os''.
Terminology
The term ''cervical cap'' has been ...
, which she had had Anna purchase according to the book's recommendation) in her home to avoid it being discovered in the house. In Episode 6 Anna's husband, John Bates (
Brendan Coyle
David "Brendan" Coyle (born 2 December 1962) is an English-Irish actor. He won the Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for ''The Weir'' in 1999. He also played Nicholas Higgins in the miniseries '' North & South'', Robert T ...
), discovers the device in their home, and is hurt by the prospect that his wife is trying to prevent them having children, which had been a topic of the series between them, but he is unaware that the book and device were being used by Lady Mary and not his wife. Only after a while did he realize that the device was Mary's and not Anna's.
# In ''
Parade's End
''Parade's End'' is a tetralogy of novels by the British novelist and poet Ford Madox Ford, written from 1924 to 1928. The novels chronicle the life of a member of the English gentry before, during and after World War I. The setting is mainly ...
'' (Episode 5), a 2012 BBC miniseries, the character Valentine Wannop finds a copy of the book in the changing rooms at the school where she works as a games mistress. She discusses it with the rest of the school staff and decides to put it back, not confiscate it, to give the girls a chance to learn about sex before they are married.
# In ''
The Giver of Stars
''The Giver of Stars'' is a 2019 historical fiction novel by Jojo Moyes about packhorse librarians in a remote area of Kentucky. Set in Depression-era America, ''The Giver of Stars'' is the story of five extraordinary women and their journey thr ...
'' by
JoJo Moyes
Pauline Sara Jo Moyes (born 4 August 1969), known professionally as Jojo Moyes, is an English journalist and, since 2002, an award-winning romance novelist, #1 New York Times best selling author and screenwriter. She is one of only a few author ...
, Married Love is a "dirty book" being challenged at the packhorse library in the fictional town of Baileyville, Kentucky.
References
External links
Full textat the Digital Library of the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
.
* {{librivox book , title=Married Love , author=Marie STOPES
1918 non-fiction books
Non-fiction books about sexuality
First-wave feminism
Birth control
British non-fiction books