Complete the sequence: A weakness of the companionate marriage is that it was built on the ideal of love; if affection between spouses lessened, there were fewer outside pressures to keep them together. The result was an increase in which phenomenon?

Complete the sequence: A weakness of the companionate marriage is that it was built on the ideal of love; if affection between spouses lessened, there were fewer outside pressures to keep them together. The result was an increase in which phenomenon?

• A. companionate; affection; divorce
• B. companionate; loyalty; separation
• C. traditional; affection; divorce
• D. companionate; affection; separation

Answer: (A)

This question centers on how the love-based basis of companionate marriage creates vulnerability when affection fades. In a companionate marriage, the bond relies largely on affection and companionship rather than external constraints like family pressure or economic dependency. When affection declines, those outside pressures to stay together are weaker, so couples are more likely to dissolve the marriage. That makes divorce the natural outcome highlighted by the prompt. So the sequence that best fits is the one that links a companionate form of marriage to affection as the sustaining force, followed by divorce as the consequence when that affection wanes. The idea isn’t just separation or some shift in loyalty; it’s the formal dissolution of marriage driven by the loss of the affection that held the couple together.

This question centers on how the love-based basis of companionate marriage creates vulnerability when affection fades. In a companionate marriage, the bond relies largely on affection and companionship rather than external constraints like family pressure or economic dependency. When affection declines, those outside pressures to stay together are weaker, so couples are more likely to dissolve the marriage. That makes divorce the natural outcome highlighted by the prompt.

So the sequence that best fits is the one that links a companionate form of marriage to affection as the sustaining force, followed by divorce as the consequence when that affection wanes. The idea isn’t just separation or some shift in loyalty; it’s the formal dissolution of marriage driven by the loss of the affection that held the couple together.