e, marriage, as it is conventionally conceived, excludes sexual relations with anyone other than the man or woman to whom one is married. Until recently, the concept of marriage also placed out of bounds all sexual relations except those permitted within marriage. Such limitations and restrictions on sexuality derived their authority from a large assortment of laws, customs and moral precepts that pertain to marriage.
Although the form and implications of marriage are the product of wide agreement, the actual defining features of marriage are difficult to specify. The conditions of marriage, as David Palmer has pointed out, are neither necessary nor sufficient. Especially in the absence of a rigid moral code that receives general adherence, there are few theoretical or practical specifications for the marital relationship. Whether it is conceived as a contract, a sacrament, or a social convenience, the marital arrangement entails the set of more or less vague expectations the mates bring into the situation. In its traditional form, the desig
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