Hi guys and gals, Aside from things like pregnancy, marrying into royalty, monetary gain, etc. I'm looking for creative and off the wall ideas for why a woman or man might be forced into a marriage. Like the legends of the Selkie, if a man took her skin she would be forced to marry him. What could that 'skin' be in today's world? Thank you.
Well, in my opinion it depends on what your story is. Take for example, if your protagonist lives in a secluded society, it may be tradition for the man or woman to be married by a certain age or they risk exile from the community, or even death if the society is radically strict.
The age-old reason a lot of women still marry: for better status or standard of living. If a woman has children, she can see they would be better looked after and educated. A woman often also marries because she wants a family (but does not want to struggle as a single mum) and she is getting older. She may be afraid Mr Right will never come along. A man may have to find a wife if e.g. he is being promoted in his company and a wife would be a social asset, hosting dinner parties etc. Or he wants to be looked after. Or he needs money and the woman can provide wealth. A man might want a sibling for another offspring because of an illness that requires a transplant or something, bone marrow for example, and I suppose he wouldn't have legal rights to ask for such a thing if he wasn't married to the mother. He might lie to get the woman to marry him and give him the chance of doing this (hey, I just found a new plot!) A politician might want to quash rumours that s/he is gay or is too much of a philanderer (and therefore a "lightweight" person). I'm coming to think very few people actually marry for love ("whatever that means", to quote Prince Charles) without any kind of romantic brainwashing, or social/economic coercion at all.
