Of Marriage and single

life
Francis Bacon
Introduction
 In “Of Marriage and single life” by Francis
Bacon highlights the differences between the
married life and the single life and the various
advantages or disadvantages of the same. The
burden of married life according to Bacon, a
married man has a family to raise and take care
of. He is totally committed to providing
security to them. But such commitments leads
him unable to take up any enterprise whether
good or bad ,noble or wicked. He loses his
freedom to go after what his heart longs for.
 The liberty of an unmarried life
 he feels that unmarried men are unrestricted
and free to make bold moves that can
produce important changes in the society .
 According to him human history is the

testament to the fact that the greatest

achievements in the different spheres of
science, arts literature etc have been made by
men and women who were single and an
inhibited by the constraints of marriage.
Reasons for not getting married
 These are various reasons for which some people remain unmarried. Some of
these are as under.


(i) Some persons lead a single life because their thoughts do end with
themselves.


(ii) Some chronic bachelors think that wife and children are bills and charges.
Since they do not want to spend any money, they prefer to be unmarried,


(iii) Some unmarried persons are foolish rich covetous men, as they take pride
in having no children because they may be thought so much the richer. They
often hear  'he (the rich person) hath a great charge of children as if it were
abatement to his riches.'


(iv) The most ordinary cause of a single life is liberty- Especially in certain self
pleasing and their humorous minds “They look upon even their belts and
garters to be curbs on their liberty.
Qualities of Unmarried Persons
 Unmarried men are best friends, best masters and
best servants. Some professions are proper only 
for unmarried persons  - A clergyman should not
get married. If he has a family, he will not save
any money or affection to offer to others.
  
 It does not matter if judges and magistrates do
not marry. If they are corrupt they will receive
bribes through agents which are much worse than
wives.
  
. Qualities of Married Persons: 
 Married person are better citizens because the unmarried
persons having no responsibility find it easy to flee from the
country if it becomes  necessary for them to do so.
  
 (i) It is better for soldiers to be married. They fight much
better if just before the battle they are reminded by their
commanders of their families waiting for them back at home.
Turkish soldiers are so vulgar and base.
  
 (ii) Having a wife and children develops the softer feelings of a
man. An unmarried man may give more charity because he
can easily spare the money for the purpose. But otherwise he
is likely to be more cruel and hard hearted than a married
man.
Good Husband and wife

 Man with ethics and moral are good husband. They are not tempted by
the pleasures of infidelity and remain honest and loyal to their wives and
marriage.

 HereBacon gives the example of Ulysses who valued his wife more than
an immortal life. In the same vein, the women also courts and regarding
chastity. They preserve it as there sense of purity.

 Theyhave greater self respect and value their body as sacred and not just
means of carnal pleasures off the flesh. Therefore a women of chastity is
proud of her worth and the worth of her loyal husband.

 Theirrelationship is strong durable and enriched with mutual respect. The

vice of jealousy can weaken this bond as the wife will not feel the trust of
her husband if he is envious and susceptible to doubt and suspicion
The Apt time for marriage
 Baconpoints out the different roles a wife plays in a man's life. She is young and
passionate she becomes his lover. She pleasures him sensually and her love and
devotion make him feel more virile and strong.

 Middleage she is his companion in weal and woe, good or bad, Triumph or disaster. She
becomes his constant A pillar of strength. As he enters old age and becomes weak and
weary, she becomes a nurse and caregiver. She nourishes him at his most vulnerable.

 Baconsays that deciding the correct time of marriage can be tricky for young and
desirous man. For them it is pleasures of the body that are most pressing. Therefore He
suggest that young man should be patient and not rush into important decisions

 Marriage demands commitment and total devotion and thus man must wait for the
opportune time. On the flip side when a man is old and suffering he must not rush to
get a wife even if there are beautiful young women who are available to marry.

 Oldage brings its share of problems and issues may lead to unwanted situations. Bacon
beautifully a philosophers quote to answer the question about the correct age and time
to marry a young man not yet an elder man not at all.
Concluding Words:
In “Of Marriage and single life” Bacon is able to compare
single life and Married life through different lenses. He puts
forward the pros and cons of marriage in terms of how it is
viewed by society and how it affects an individual
Even though the he enlists the burden and Liberation of

marriage extols and benefits of marriage and how it shifts the

person.
Bacon insists that having a family can make a man generous

and merciful. It is as a form of discipline that single man lack

and thus are more cruel and reckless.