From Social Constrict to Personal Freedom: A Comparative Study of the Portrayal of Marriage in Selected Movies Illuminating the Transformations in Marital Relationships from the Victorian Era to the Present Day

This research paper focuses on the ways in which marriages have evolved over time from the predetermined and complex societal expectations into realizing how important it is to have personal freedom in a relationship. These social constraints have always been imposed upon married couples and passed on from generation to generation for many decades. The study focuses on the key aspect “communication” in reference to David H. Olson's Circumplex Model of Marital and Family Systems. Communication is one of the integral aspects of the model, and according to this model, David H. Olson establishes that communication is a determining factor in terms of stability and healthy functioning of a marriage. Analyzing through the lens of the two contemporary films, Marriage Story (2019) and Her (2013), the study explores the relevance of communication within marriage and traces the changing dynamics of a marital relationship in the modern world. A historical evolution of marriage on screen is vividly portrayed in reference to the movies Revolutionary Road (2008), A Room with a View (1985), and Pride and Prejudice (2005), which go back to the mid-20th century and the Victorian Age, respectively. The study also establishes, although complexities in marital relationships endure over time, the issues prevail, but their nature and how the couple solves them differ depending on the respective cultural and temporal situations. The study also reflects how societal expectations, gender roles, and personal goals have impacted marriage in different time periods. The narrative and visual devices in each film, such as the lighting, framing, dialogue, and cinematography, play a crucial role in demonstrating their effective inclusion in representing the changing dynamics of marital relationships. This essay argues that, as much as institutions of marriage change over time, challenges, especially communication, remain a universal and complex issue between couples.