Family Support
- Remember that overprotective family from the beginning? Well, it looks like the bride hasn't disowned them. No, she wants to incorporate her hot groom into her family by taking him into her mother's home, offering him food and drink as a sign of hospitality, and loving him freely.
- What do you think these lines tell us about families and living situations back in the day?
- Verses six and seven are pretty memorable: "Many waters cannot quench love […] if one offered for love all the wealth of one's house, it would be utterly scorned."
- See, often, marriage was a financial transaction between families. And hey, weren't we just talking about incorporating family and love a few verses ago? The tension here highlights the text's main point: asserting love as a powerful, legitimate force that is equal to the societal forces that may seek to thwart it.
- Deep.
- Finally, at the very end, the bride's family gets a word in edgewise. They say that she's too young to marry, but that they'll help her prepare a wedding when she comes of age. For now, we guess she'll have to just keep on pining.
- The book ends with one final declaration of love from the lovers.