I'm a young man in Shakespeare's time and I want to marry the woman I love. How weird is that?

by eightpointeight

I was watching an episode of Adam Ruins Everything the other day, and he mentioned that love and romance weren't really linked to marriage at all until the past couple centuries. But the existence and popularity of Romeo and Juliet suggest that at least the concept of marrying for love was fairly widespread even at that time. So just how unusual was it for people to get married for love during that era (feuds between families notwithstanding)?

machiavalium

While you're waiting for qualified experts to give fresh answers to your specific question, you may be interested in this previous thread with a thorough response provided by /u/sunagainstgold.

You may also be interested in the Love, Marriage and Sex section of the FAQ which contains similar, but not quite exactly the same, questions as you have.