Marriage is neither heaven nor hell, Abraham Lincoln opined, it is simply purgatory.
Given we now die later — with the consequential longer cleansing of our sins — then perhaps, an Oxford professor has suggested, we should be rethinking the institution of marriage.
Sarah Harper said that people had to think about whether they wanted to be with the same partner for longer periods. Professor Harper said that with the predicted life expectancy of a British baby born today being 104, society had to start asking questions about how they were going to live.
Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks have been together for 29 years
KEVORK DJANSEZIAN/GETTY IMAGES
“We have to look at, with these very very long lives, whether we do want to be together for 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 years,” she said. “Even the institution