From the late 1800s to the early 1900s, women and men did not "marry" the way women do and the men of today. In today's world, women and men marry because they have a lot in common, they are in love with each other, and they choose to marry. In many stories written at the time, readers can expect to learn how marriages were arranged and how many people did not experience the marital bliss that marriage proclaims today. Take a look at Ruth and Walter in “Raisin of the Sun.” Ruth is portrayed as a calm and thoughtful woman, who would do anything and everything for her family. Ruth even considered having an abortion to make her husband happy. Walter was a man with a dream. Walter always had his eyes on the prize and would do anything to get it. In the play "Raisin in the Sun", Ruth, Walter and the family lived through difficult times when money was not so easy to come by and there was still some animosity between whites and blacks. Ruth and Walter's marriage was easy to understand. . The story does not show that the marriage was arranged; However, their marriage has certainly seen better days. As the story begins, readers quickly learn that Ruth doesn't like to talk about problems and that Walter wishes she would talk about them. Instead, Ruth dismisses all thoughts of Walter. Walter said in the story: “Behold, the man said to his wife: I had a dream. His wife says: Eat your eggs. The man says: I have to take over this world here, baby! And the woman will say: eat your eggs and go to work” (Hansberry 822). If Ruth and Walter talked openly and freely about their problems, they would not have had such a serious communication problem. Marriages are difficult to maintain... middle of paper ...... a permanent state of being in love, or as we might better say 'staying' in love” (Fromm 1260). This story can really make readers think about love and what it means to fall in love. Love can be different for everyone, and there are all kinds of love. For example, think of a mother and her baby. The love between a mother and her child cannot be measured. When readers think about the characters in the two stories and the principles Fromm states in his story "Is Love an Art," they may feel like all the characters could have learned to love. Love is not learned overnight. To love someone else, you must first love yourself. Ruth and Nora both didn't love each other, so how were they going to love anyone else? William Shakespeare once said, “Love all, trust a few, and harm none” (Shawn Robinson).