Though American divorce law was never intended in principle to be as u
nusual as it has turned out in fact, it nevertheless carries a powerfu
l ideology, sending out distinctive messages about commitment, respons
ibility, and dependency.... The American story about marriage, as told
in the law and in much popular literature, goes something like this:
marriage is a relationship that exists primarily for the fulfillment o
f the individual spouses. If it ceases to perform this function, no on
e is to blame and either spouse may terminate it at will.(1).