User:WCultProject/Matchmaking

 Revised First Draft 

Our Goals for Editing this Article


 * Remove unnecessary notes from top of page
 * Rewrite Lead
 * Rewrite/Expand "In Aisa" subsection of "Purposes"

Not to be confused with matcha-making.


 * This section will be removed, as, though there is an obvious similarity in the way both of these terms sound, there is no logical way (in my mind) that someone (other than perhaps a child) could mistake matcha-making for matchmaking, or get the two confused

This article is about human matchmakers. For modern matchmaking which tends to substitute information technology or game-like rules for the expert's finesse, see Dating. For matchmaking in online gaming, see Matchmaking (video games).


 * Will be changed to the following:
 * This article provides information surrounding the profession/tradition of marital matchmaking in different world cultures. For information about modern methods of matchmaking, such as online dating, see the article entitled Dating. Information about matchmaking in online video games see Matchmaking (video games)

 Revised Second draft 

Our Goals for Editing this Article:

We are switching our primary goal from rewriting/expanding the "In Asia" subsection to rewriting the lead so it not only includes a better (and actually citable) definition for "matchmaking", but also includes a brief overview of the purposes of the practices and its history and appearance in literature.

'''Lead (sections (the bullet points that say definition, history. . ., and example. . .) here are just to help us organize research, once we are ready to actually input this information into our article the headings will go away and it will just be paragraphs)'''


 * Definition
 * Matchmaking is the activity of trying to arrange marriages or relationships between other people
 * History of the matchmaking practice (add more information about when it start, where...)
 * Matchmaking has a long been a tradition in many cultures and countries, the most prominent of which are the Jewish and Irish cultures, though it also played apart in arranging many marriages for Russian peasant in the nineteenth century and for many Chinese individuals up to the modern day. Though the results, or, at least, the desired result, of matchmaking is the same across each of these cultures' and countries' matchmaking traditions, the traditional ways of practicing matchmaking are different.
 * Despite some differences in the traditional practices of matchmaking, the original purpose of matchmaking remains nearly the same across each of these cultures. Among the upper class, matches were made for the purpose of increasing wealth and/or political power either for one of the families involved or for both. For those of the middle and lower classes, marriage meant bringing a new source of labor into the family which, for those who were farmers, would help further the families endeavors, or otherwise to help provide care for the family and its household. Matches among the middle and lower class also often sought to provide each family with a some form of social security, which would be attained when the matched couple was married and their families thus bound together.
 * As the marriages which were hoped to result from these matches bound not only the bride and groom's families together, but also their reputations, it was extremely important to each of the families, even those of the middle and lower classes, that the other have a reputation of being good people and come from a lineage of good people. For those of the upper class, the more illustrious and prestigious an individuals family and lineage was, the better a match they were seen as being. The personal characteristics of the potential bride and groom were also extremely important to both families.
 * A common custom of matchmaking is the exchange of some form of wealth between the two families. In some cultures, this exchange is seen in the giving of funds or goods (known as a dowry) by the bride's family to the groom's family in order that the newly married couple are able to establish their own household or so that, should the groom die an early death, the groom's family will have the means to support the bride. In other cultures, it is the groom's family who gives funds or goods to the bride's family as repayment for them giving away their daughter (known as a bride price). It is thought by anthropologists that these differing exchange traditions can be representative of a culture's views about a woman's place or value in the family and/or of a a culture's expectations a newly married woman. I remember there was question about this topic in either a reading quiz, reading guide, or reading discussion, but I can't remember which one it is or which text it was about. Do you have any idea?
 * Example of Matchmaking in the Literature
 * Between the 15th and the 18th century, Matchmaking was very present in the literature. In Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet, Juliet's father before his meeting with Romeo, organizes a party in his field so that she meets her suitor, without her knowing it.
 * In the 17th century, in the Moliere theater for example, it was not uncommon to see arrangements between families in order to increase their respective wealth.
 * In the 18th century, Jane Austen also introduced the idea in her novel “Pride and Prejudice” . This novel tells the story of Madame Bennet who wishes to marry her five daughters in order to offer them a future. She then tries at the beginning of the book to meet and then love her neighbor, Mr. Bingley and her daughter Elisabeth.