Marriage and children: What is the culture behind it?

[amst27.livejournal.com]

Hello everyone,

I am extremely curious concerning the subject of marriage and children, what is the culture behind it? For example, does the emperor have to have a lot of wives and numerous children to continue the royal line? Does the emperor have a lot of wives for political gain? I get the impression that the emperor is playing his children either against each other or maybe something else to prove their worthiness to be the next successor to the throne, and whomever proves worthy may have to remove their father by exiling him or killing him to challenge him for the throne. I think that this is terrible, but it appears to be that type of environment they live in. The emperor is a crappy father! However, to be fair he was probably raised without love and affection from his own father and/or mother, so he does not know any better. We do not know the history of the current emperor's childhood. And, does the emperor marry off his children for political gain? It would be nice if the series could explain the social culture and customs of the Britianina empire, but I do not think that this will happen. It seems to me that you have to piece together their social customs from certain episodes and do your best to interpret it. I do hope that I have not confused anyone with my questions. I would appreciate any help that you can give me.

Thanks!

Comments

[cal-reflector.livejournal.com]

It all sounds possible, but at the same time, with the exception of the Emperor, polygamy sees no mention throughout the series. The series has bent too many rules and incorporated too large a jumble of real world cultural and historical references for us to pin it down to any one frame (Victorian England) basis.

I would presume inter-house rivalry to exist however. The siblings obviously don't always get along, while some get along as if they were a real family.

I'm sure some diligent fic writers and forumers (Animesuki) might answer some of your more detailed questions regarding history and cultural background for the series, since the producers have shown to be rather lazy when it comes to doing their research.

[xtine06.livejournal.com]

so lulu's sibling are his paternal or maternal siblings? (w/ exception to nunnally of course)..i thought they are half-brothers and sisters... ;)

[cal-reflector.livejournal.com]

All share the same father. Unless there was some hancky-pank going on, which I doubt. Not that sort of show, as in, not a historical court drama soap-opera.

[xtine06.livejournal.com]

so they are half-siblings?the emperor has lots of women, i guess..a perfect example of polygamy..

i am getting crazy understanding the emperor and his whereabouts x_x

[sakura-no-miko.livejournal.com]

The emperor has 108 wives, if I remember correctly. Some of the siblings are full siblings (i.e. Lelouche and Nannaly, or (I think) Euphie and Cornelia), but all the others are half-siblings (same father, different mothers) and possibly step-siblings. I think Lelouche's mother was from another country, so probably some of his wives are from conquered lands. And if Nannally is...77th or 87th in line, that means there's at least that many children.

[xtine06.livejournal.com]

yes..the family of lelouch is very big..i bet he have not yet met all of his brother and sisters..if i were him, i wold be having a hard time remembering their names since they are sooo many,..

[xtine06.livejournal.com]

i think you need to read between the lines on episode of the series since it does not explicitly say the underlying cultures that supports it. in every episode that premiers, a piece of the personality and background of the story unfolds so i think you must watch out for that.take note of the actions of each character and you will how will they operate throughout.

regarding the emperor's actions, i think it is not new to those who are in royalty to have pre-arranged marriages. if i am correct, they are doing so to preserve their own status in society, protect their own business or for their own personal reason. some of these marriages succeed and some do not. i guess the emperor in CG is someone who is not a loving and understanding one. i doubt if he ever loved his children so it is totally ok for him to exile, banish (in lulu's case) them. i believe that those he favor are those that would go with his plans and not dare fight against him..

well, these are just my opinions :)

[morose-doll.livejournal.com]

Well, about the emperor marrying his children off for political gain.

I remember watching episode seven of the first season and it mentions that now that Nunnally is somewhat blind and can't watch she is pretty much useless and can't be married off. So yeah, I am sure there are arranged marriages.

That does bring up another question though. Does the empire of britannian inter breed? Cause I know with royalty they do that to keep the bloodline "pure" as they say. Does that mean Lelouch might have ended marrying someone like Euphemia?

[xtine06.livejournal.com]

Yeah, one of way of maintaining their bloodline pure is through intermarriages, similar to Murasaki's case in Kurenai..

however, CG does not have any mention of interbreeding though lulu's first love is euphie so if things went a different way, is it possible that they get married?

[fujiappletan.livejournal.com]

Nunnally is somewhat blind and can't watch she is pretty much useless and can't be married off.

In a drama CD, Nunnally was actually being married off to like Suzaku's father or something... for some political reason, so she can get married? :O

Does that mean Lelouch might have ended marrying someone like Euphemia?

IF ONLY THAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED INSTEAD. but yeah the fact that most of them are related by half seems to not faze them, so we can infer that there is a high possibility that yeah, Lelouch would? (Cornelia seemed pretty taken when Schneziel was complimenting her and not like "dude ur sick" so. xD)

[zerorevenge.livejournal.com]

I believe that was Suzaku's Father plan, to marry Nunally (who was what? Eight at the time?) to secure himself a safe spot in the Britannian House of Nobles prior to Area 11's invasion.

Kinda makes Suzaku's murder seem justified now? Don't it?

[interstellar.livejournal.com]

I think the emperor's many wives/children would be a combination of continuing the royal line, and also the fulfilment of his Darwinist philosophy - the strongest one will eventually become the new ruler, one way or another. It's probably an emperor-specific kind of polygamy, since no-one else (not even his children) seems to have multiple partners. I can't actually recall - were they all his wives, as in he had married them all, or was it some other kind of arrangement?

He'd definitely marry off his children for political gain, at least the less useful ones - but that exists throughout many cultures. It's not just the emperor and direct royalty; marriages like Milly/Lloyd (or the hypothetical Zero/Kaguya XDD) are also for political influence. Arranged marriages seem to be common among the Britannian nobility.

It'd be great if Sunrise released a Britannian cultural primer as bonus material. I doubt they would, since only total geeks like me would buy it, but it'd be really cool.

[zerorevenge.livejournal.com]

I think that this is terrible, but it appears to be that type of environment they live in. The emperor is a crappy father!

In another point of view, he's merely preparing them for the harsh life that is reality. He might be considered to be a great Father.

Just look back into real History to try and understand the concepts of "marrying children away" it was to unite noble families and countries into peace agreements. It was so very common in the Age of Nobles, to the point that after a while all the Nobles were related in some way (like third cousins removed) or what not. Not all of the nobles, but a huge amount of the, see the Hapsberg or Bourbon Family.

Many have said that the Emperor is setting up his children to take his place, and many more have said that the Emperor probably wants Lelouch to take the throne, thus why he didn't just flat-out execute him.

And with the Wives, think of Henry VIII (I think?) Who had like 7 wives. Just married a new one after the other was dead. [Yeap, I was right - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_VIII]

Granted, I studied these type of topics way back in High School, so it's still fresh in my mind, so i'm able to make all these connections.

[fox-holland.livejournal.com]

You mean after he divorced and executed.

[zerorevenge.livejournal.com]

I forgot that detail didn't I?

[mossygirl.livejournal.com]

Henry VIII's not a bad historical figure to bring up, in any case (though he was marrying partially to secure a male heir, which Charles has no problem with). His children (Edward, Mary and Elizabeth) also went up against each other -- to a point anyway (my history's a bit fuzzy, but Mary was Catholic and Elizabeth Protestant, so definite conflict there). But, that was after he was dead, too. What a lot people (including myself) find horrible about Charles, I think, is that he treats his children like pawns and doesn't care if they die or not -- he seems to actively encourage his kids to fight each other. I definitely would not want a dad like that.

[zerorevenge.livejournal.com]

What a lot people (including myself) find horrible about Charles, I think, is that he treats his children like pawns and doesn't care if they die or not -- he seems to actively encourage his kids to fight each other. I definitely would not want a dad like that.

I can't disagree there.

[ladyassassin27.livejournal.com]

This topic prompts my own question, is Charles unique in his having many wives? or did emperors before him do the same?

As to the discussion, well most nobles did intermarry, although it was mostly among cousins and not half-siblings, there was a time when most of Europe's nobility was related in some way, arranged marriages are common even among those in the higher class of society, so I'm not suprised that it would be practice in Britannia.

[treeflamingo.livejournal.com]

The political and inheritance system of the Holy Britannian Empire is pretty similar to that employed by the Japanese themselves during those few times when the emperor was an actual leader and not just a figurehead. Those high enough up the social ladder have wives and concubines, the Emperor having the most impressive harem of all, and all of the Emperor's children are raised to think of themselves as having a shot at the throne - if they can prove they deserve it. There is intense inter- and intra-house rivalry as everybody tries to intrigue their way to the top; the Emperor encourages some of his children and incites vicious competition among all of them; being born into the royal family means that your "family" consists of your mother and maybe any full siblings you might have; your Father (capital F) is the boss you are born under and are destined to overthrow. It's a little bit naive, in my opinion, to make value judgements about Charles' parenting. He's not trying to be a 'daddy'. He's trying to hold on to and consolidate power as long and as much as possible while grooming (ideally) one successor.
On the subject of why it seems that only the Emperor is polygamus, I would assume it's because he's the only one with a Royal Blood Line to preserve and a throne to protect. Nobody else needs to go to such extreme breeding measures to produce a suitable heir; nobody else needs to create the next Emperor.
A question of my own - does it ever look to anyone else like Charles' true favorite is Lelouche? There's something about all this that makes me think he's testing Lelouche especially hard because he expects the most from him. And if he dies during the test, there's always Schneizel.

[ladyassassin27.livejournal.com]

Yes, the fact that he didn't just dispose of him when he had the chance instead just wiped his memories, got me thinking that he may want Lulouch to take over, and the Emperor's leniency when it comes to Schneizel has always bothered me a bit, maybe he doesn't bother with him since he's deemed him to be the back up in case Lulouch dies is accidently killed