What's Love Got to Do With It?

During the summer that Mr. Pudding popped the question, I decided to turn my excitement about our looming engagement into something positive, and do a little bit of research on what I was about to get myself into by agreeing to be Mr. Pudding's "wife". I picked up this book at a local bookstore, and spent our Maine vacation reading about the women who have come before.

(source)

I really enjoyed this book, and highly recommend it! Despite the "intellectual feel" of the book, it was a surprisingly entertaining beach read! Are there any other ex history and/or literature students who have rediscovered their love of reading for fun after years and years of reading only material that you had to for class?

The book did bring up an interesting point that I wanted to discuss with the hive. The author discusses the reasons why people entered into matrimony at length, and surprisingly notes that "brides and grooms did not enter marriage with the expectation of "loving" each other as we understand the term" until about the 18th century. For the most part, women married to gain security and status, while men married so that they could have legitimate heirs.

When I started thinking about the reasons that I have for marrying, the fact that I "love" Mr. Pudding is at the top of my list. I know that I "love" Mr. P because there are frequent moments when I am with him that I feel an overwhelming sense of joy so strong, that I actually pause to acknowledge it. But different people classify love in different ways - some believe that it is best described by the butterfly feeling in your stomach when you think about that other person, while others believe that it is more of a friendship that is developed over time. But if there is no real criteria to classify "love", than how much credit can we give to this term as a reason for why we get married?

I'd like to think that I am marrying Mr. Pudding simply because I "love" him. But than, I think of my high school boyfriend, whom I also claimed to "love" (and at the time I really believed that I did), but knew that I would never marry him because his life goal of being the next big rap star did not mesh with my ambitions. I can't help but admit that the facts that Mr. P is educated and has a good career play a part in why I have chosen him as my partner.

So, I ask you, hive: How do you classify the importance of "love"? What other reasons do you have for marrying your fiance?