Marriage forms one of the novel’s key themes, with the novel demonstrating both the dangers of an unhappy match and celebrating the happiness of a truly companionate marriage. The main characters and their experiences illustrate these different forms of marital life and romantic love. 

Helen’s experiences in marrying Huntingdon reveal the dangers inherent in making a bad match based on naivety or pure attraction. While Helen is warned of Huntingdon’s flaws by her aunt and others, she refuses to heed their advice, choosing instead to excuse Huntingdon’s faults and believing her influence will change him. Helen’s experiences of abuse at Huntingdon’s hands serve as a warning about the consequences of a bad match, especially for women: Due to her legal and social dependence upon Huntingdon and her own beliefs in a wife’s duties, Helen struggles to reconcile the ideal she had of marriage with the distressing reality. Likewise, Millicent’s initially abusive match with Hargrave demonstrates the dangers of giving in to a bad match due to parental or societal pressure. Women who wish to marry only to elevate their rank, like Annabella Wilmot and Jane Wilson, come to unhappy ends, suggesting that such calculations leave little room for true affection to flourish.