# Love and Marriage as Transaction in Nightmare Abbey

> Theme guide for Nightmare Abbey by Thomas Love Peacock.

Marriage is portrayed as a mercenary arrangement driven by property, social status, and parental manipulation, as seen in the Glowry and Toobad families, with genuine affection often secondary to financial considerations.

## Where it surfaces

- [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nightmare_abbey_se/chapters/i): Mr. Glowry's own marriage was a transaction of interest, and Scythrop's love affair is broken off due to a quarrel over 'the terms of the bargain.'
- [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nightmare_abbey_se/chapters/iv): Mr. Glowry's arranged marriage plan for Scythrop to Mr. Toobad's daughter is driven by fortune and family honor, contrasting with Scythrop's romantic attachment to Marionetta.
- [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nightmare_abbey_se/chapters/ix): The betrothal is arranged by Mr. Glowry and Mr. Hilary with little regard for the couple's true feelings, emphasizing marriage as a social and familial contract.
- [Chapter X](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nightmare_abbey_se/chapters/x): Marionetta's coquetry and Scythrop's calculations reflect a transactional view of love, where affection is traded for attention and power.
- [XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nightmare_abbey_se/chapters/xv): Both Marionetta and Celinda treat marriage as a practical arrangement, each quickly marrying another suitor and wishing Scythrop well with the other.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nightmare_abbey_se/themes/love_and_marriage_as_transaction
- Themes index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nightmare_abbey_se/themes