Family in Europe History Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Family in Europe History - Coursework Example Sex was therefore often considered to be simply a means of producing the future workers of the farm. In order to make sure heirs would be born, premarital sex was not entirely frowned upon. If the girl became pregnant before marriage, it was proof that she was fertile and the marriage could be made official. The land had also become more productive and new industries were born, creating a need for greater numbers of workers and forcing society to be both more lenient toward unwed mothers and more accepting of their children. Although laws had been written to prevent servants and unlanded peoples from marrying, this did not prevent them from engaging in sex with desired partners, thereby producing illegitimate children who were often welcomed into the household as future workers and guarantors that the farm or the industry would thrive. Individuals in poorer households generally married for economic reasons and worked hard all day while practicing a general hands-off approach to human relationships. People in the upper classes often took on lovers to excite them sexually because they were not limited by the same economic constraints and their time was not wholly devoted to sustenance and support. The bourgeois morality that began in the eighteenth century grew out of the marriage and sexual practices of the nobility class. Because marriage was seen as more of an economic arrangement, it was generally considered unwise to hamper it with excessive love at the same time that an aesthetic appreciation for sex, with extramarital partners, was being developed. However, as industries began to move outside of the home and families began to live in closer proximity to each other, emotional attachments became stronger and the idea of marrying for love rather than money began to take precedence. Because the family no longer worked within a larger community of servants and siblings to maintain the family farm or the tradesman’s shop, they were