--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Marriage, as an institution, is as dead…" description: "\"Marriage, as an institution, is as dead as the dodo bird.\" — Joan Fontaine" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/926/joan-fontaine-28568_bird_marriage-as-an-institution-is-as-dead-as_1662718.png" --- # Marriage, as an institution, is as dead as the dodo bird. ![“Marriage, as an institution, is as dead as the dodo bird.” quote by Joan Fontaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/926/joan-fontaine-28568_bird_marriage-as-an-institution-is-as-dead-as_1662718.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/926/joan-fontaine-28568_bird_marriage-as-an-institution-is-as-dead-as_1662718.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/926/joan-fontaine-28568_bird_marriage-as-an-institution-is-as-dead-as_1662718.png) > “Marriage, as an institution, is as dead as the dodo bird.” [Joan Fontaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-fontaine/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Marriage is portrayed as obsolete and extinct like a vanished species. **In simple terms:** Marriage is seen as dead. Key Takeaway Question its relevance today. Themes marriage institution modernity Mood skeptical reflective Type critical observational When to use this quote - relationship counseling - legal reform - social commentary Key Concepts sociology cultural critique Questions to Reflect On - Is marriage still valuable? - How can institutions evolve? A Different Perspective Marriage persists in many cultures despite criticism. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) [Dodo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dodo/) [Institutions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/institutions/) [Marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage/) ## Related quotes > [I would love to meet a dodo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-lennox/i-would-love-to-meet-a-dodo/) [Annie Lennox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-lennox/) > [Aaja dodo hate kar la](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rahul/aaja-dodo-hate-kar-la/) [Rahul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rahul/) > [The Dodo never had a chance. He seems to have been invented for the sole purpose of becoming extinct and that was all he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-cuppy/the-dodo-never-had-a-chance-he-seems-to-have-been-invented-for-the/) [Will Cuppy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-cuppy/) > [“Don't you own a dodo?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-fforde/don-t-you-own-a-dodo/) [Jasper Fforde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-fforde/) > [That was like seeing a dodo and a unicorn all wrapped up in one](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-maddow/that-was-like-seeing-a-dodo-and-a-unicorn-all-wrapped-up-in-one/) [Rachel Maddow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-maddow/) > [I had the honour and the privilege to launch the brand Dodo and Moa together with Amazon Fashion at the Amazon Fashion Studio. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vaani-kapoor/i-had-the-honour-and-the-privilege-to-launch-the-brand-dodo-and-moa/) [Vaani Kapoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vaani-kapoor/) > [Dodo ugly, so Dodo must die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/genesis/dodo-ugly-so-dodo-must-die/) [Genesis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/genesis/) > [“No language meant no chance of co-opting them in to what their round and flaxen invaders were calling Salvation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/no-language-meant-no-chance-of-co-opting-them-in-to-what-their-round/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [“The dodo itself stands as the best emblem of this general truth - that insular evolution often involves transforming an adventurous, high-flying ancestor species…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quammen-david/the-dodo-itself-stands-as-the-best-emblem-of-this-general-truth-that/) Quammen, David > [“The church, which squatted among the headstones like a wet mother dodo, had been at various times Presbyterian, Congregationalist, Unitarian, and Universally Apocalyptic. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut-jr/the-church-which-squatted-among-the-headstones-like-a-wet-mother-dodo/) [Kurt Vonnegut Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut-jr/) > [“His unlived life worried him, tortured him, turning round and round inside him like an animal in a cage. In Dodo's body, the body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruno-schulz/his-unlived-life-worried-him-tortured-him-turning-round-and-round/) [Bruno Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruno-schulz/) > [Marriage is an institution in which a Man loses his Bachelors degree, and the Woman gets her Masters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikhil-saluja/marriage-is-an-institution-in-which-a-man-loses-his-bachelors-degree/) [Nikhil Saluja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikhil-saluja/) > [Marriage is an institution and that's where a couple finish up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/les-dawson/marriage-is-an-institution-and-that-s-where-a-couple-finish-up/) [Les Dawson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/les-dawson/) > [“Andrea Dworkin famously commented that “Marriage as an institution developed from rape as a practice.” In”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-traister/andrea-dworkin-famously-commented-that-marriage-as-an-institution/) [Rebecca Traister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-traister/) > [While I believe in marriage as an institution, I am also petrified of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shahid-kapoor/while-i-believe-in-marriage-as-an-institution-i-am-also-petrified-of/) [Shahid Kapoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shahid-kapoor/) ## More by Joan Fontaine > [I married first, won the Oscar before Olivia (sister Olivia de Havilland) did, and if I die first, she'll undoubtedly be livid because I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-fontaine/i-married-first-won-the-oscar-before-olivia-sister-olivia-de/) [Joan Fontaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-fontaine/) > [My sister is a very peculiar lady. When we were young, I wasn't allowed to talk to her friends. Now I'm not allowed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-fontaine/my-sister-is-a-very-peculiar-lady-when-we-were-young-i-wasn-t-allowed/) [Joan Fontaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-fontaine/) > [One puzzling thing about men -- they allow their sex instinct to drive them to where their intelligence never would take them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-fontaine/one-puzzling-thing-about-men-they-allow-their-sex-instinct-to-drive/) [Joan Fontaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-fontaine/) > [I hope I'll die on stage at the age at 105, playing Peter Pan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-fontaine/i-hope-i-ll-die-on-stage-at-the-age-at-105-playing-peter-pan/) [Joan Fontaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-fontaine/) > [If you keep marrying as I do, you learn everybody's hobby.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-fontaine/if-you-keep-marrying-as-i-do-you-learn-everybody-s-hobby/) [Joan Fontaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-fontaine/) > [ \[On her troubled relationships with her daughters:\] You can acquire enemies. Why give birth to them? ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-fontaine/on-her-troubled-relationships-with-her-daughters-you-can-acquire/) [Joan Fontaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-fontaine/) > [You know, I've had a helluva life. Not just the acting part. I've flown in an international balloon race. I've piloted my own plane.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-fontaine/you-know-i-ve-had-a-helluva-life-not-just-the-acting-part-i-ve-flown/) [Joan Fontaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-fontaine/) > [The real problem with men- they can only think six inches into the future. The real problem with women- they have only half a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-fontaine/the-real-problem-with-men-they-can-only-think-six-inches-into-the/) [Joan Fontaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-fontaine/) > [It's better to be on a soap opera to renew your career and following than to be on any other medium.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-fontaine/it-s-better-to-be-on-a-soap-opera-to-renew-your-career-and-following/) [Joan Fontaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-fontaine/) > [“Being a woman, I have found the road rougher than had I been born a man. Different defenses, different codes of ethics, different approaches…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-fontaine/being-a-woman-i-have-found-the-road-rougher-than-had-i-been-born-a/) [Joan Fontaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-fontaine/) > [The theater audience is the ultimate teacher, instructing the actor on the degree to which he has executed both the author's and the director's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-fontaine/the-theater-audience-is-the-ultimate-teacher-instructing-the-actor-on/) [Joan Fontaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-fontaine/) > [I've flown in an international balloon race. I've piloted my own plane. I've ridden to the hounds. I've done a lot of exciting things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-fontaine/i-ve-flown-in-an-international-balloon-race-i-ve-piloted-my-own-plane/) [Joan Fontaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-fontaine/) > [The main problem in marriage is that for a man sex is a hunger like eating. If the man is hungry and cant get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-fontaine/the-main-problem-in-marriage-is-that-for-a-man-sex-is-a-hunger-like/) [Joan Fontaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-fontaine/) > [That Oscar can be a jinx... It can... damage irreparably one's relations with family, friends. It's an uneasy head that wears the crown.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-fontaine/that-oscar-can-be-a-jinx-it-can-damage-irreparably-one-s-relations/) [Joan Fontaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-fontaine/) > [You know, I've had a helluva life,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-fontaine/you-know-i-ve-had-a-helluva-life/) [Joan Fontaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-fontaine/) [Explore all 19 Joan Fontaine quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-fontaine/) ## More Bird quotes > [And I have been very blessed, having coached some of the greatest that have ever played the game. But if I had to start…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/red-auerbach/and-i-have-been-very-blessed-having-coached-some-of-the-greatest-that/) [Red Auerbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/red-auerbach/) > [Some minds corrode and grow inactive under the loss of personal liberty; others grow morbid and irritable; but it is the nature of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/some-minds-corrode-and-grow-inactive-under-the-loss-of-personal/) [Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/) > [Set the bird's wings with gold and it will never again soar in thesky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/set-the-bird-s-wings-with-gold-and-it-will-never-again-soar-in-thesky/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [“He unfixes the metal notch and slips his hand around the body of the bird. Feels its heat, its small heart beating. He stares…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-schuyler/he-unfixes-the-metal-notch-and-slips-his-hand-around-the-body-of-the/) Nina Schuyler > [I would rather learn from one bird how to sing than to teach 10,000 stars how not to dance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/i-would-rather-learn-from-one-bird-how-to-sing-than-to-teach-10-000/) [e. e. cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings/) > [Can you imagine any better example of divine creative accomplishment that the consummate flying machine that is a bird? The skeleton, very flexible and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-murchie/can-you-imagine-any-better-example-of-divine-creative-accomplishment/) [Guy Murchie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-murchie/) > [Surely, God could have caused birds to fly with their bones made of solid gold, with their veins full of quicksilver, with their flesh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/surely-god-could-have-caused-birds-to-fly-with-their-bones-made-of/) [Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/) > [And wheresoever, in his rich creation, Sweet music breathes--in wave, or bird, or soul-- 'Tis but the faint and far reverberation Of that great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-sargent-osgood/and-wheresoever-in-his-rich-creation-sweet-music-breathes-in-wave-or/) [Frances Sargent Osgood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-sargent-osgood/) > [A clock struck out the hour of twelve, and the bird in the hedgerow was still singing as we marched out to the roadway,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-macgill/a-clock-struck-out-the-hour-of-twelve-and-the-bird-in-the-hedgerow/) [Patrick MacGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-macgill/) > [Every wife ought to answer for her man. If the husband be engaged in a seditious club, or drinks mysterious healths, or be frugal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/every-wife-ought-to-answer-for-her-man-if-the-husband-be-engaged-in-a/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Meanwhile, the trees were just as green as before; the birds sang and the sun shone as clearly now as ever. The familiar surroundings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/meanwhile-the-trees-were-just-as-green-as-before-the-birds-sang-and/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [When they started to drain a swamp where birds and fish had lived, for a new housing development down the road from his apartment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maile-meloy/when-they-started-to-drain-a-swamp-where-birds-and-fish-had-lived-for/) [Maile Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maile-meloy/) > [The bird with the thorn in its breast, it follows an immutable law; it is driven by it knows not what to impale itself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-mccullough/the-bird-with-the-thorn-in-its-breast-it-follows-an-immutable-law-it/) [Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/) > [Real like sucks the life out of losers. if you want to fuck with the eagles, you must learn how to fly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/real-like-sucks-the-life-out-of-losers-if-you-want-to-fuck-with-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“If we studied birds ,maybe we could learn to be free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-alire-s-enz/if-we-studied-birds-maybe-we-could-learn-to-be-free/) [Benjamin Alire Sáenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-alire-s-enz/) [Browse all 4,802 Bird quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Marriage, as an institution, is as dead as the dodo bird.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joan Fontaine" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-fontaine/marriage-as-an-institution-is-as-dead-as-the-dodo-bird/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bird" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-fontaine/marriage-as-an-institution-is-as-dead-as-the-dodo-bird/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/926/joan-fontaine-28568_bird_marriage-as-an-institution-is-as-dead-as_1662718.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/926/joan-fontaine-28568_bird_marriage-as-an-institution-is-as-dead-as_1662718.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/926/joan-fontaine-28568_bird_marriage-as-an-institution-is-as-dead-as_1662718.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Marriage, as an institution, is as dead as the dodo bird.” — Joan Fontaine", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Joan Fontaine", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-fontaine/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Marriage, as an institution, is as...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-fontaine/marriage-as-an-institution-is-as-dead-as-the-dodo-bird/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-fontaine/marriage-as-an-institution-is-as-dead-as-the-dodo-bird/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```