In the late 1800s and early 1900s women and men did not "knot themselves" as women and men do today . In today's world, women and men get married because they have many things in common, they are in love with each other and choose to get married. In many stories written then, readers can expect to read how marriages were arranged and how many people did not enjoy the marital bliss that marriage proclaimed today. Check out Ruth and Walter in “Raisin of the Sun.” Ruth is portrayed as a quiet, caring woman, who would do anything and everything for her family. Ruth was even considering having an abortion to make her husband happy. Walter was a man with a dream. Walter always had his eyes on the prize and would do anything to get it. In the play “Raisins in the Sun,” Ruth, Walter and the family lived in difficult times, when money was not so easy to come by and there was still some animosity between whites and blacks. Ruth and Walter's marriage was easy to understand. . The story did not portray that the marriage had been arranged; however their marriage certainly saw better days. As the story begins, readers will quickly learn that Ruth doesn't like to talk about problems and Walter wanted her to talk about them. Instead, Ruth dismisses Walter's every thought. Walter stated in the story: “Behold, the man says to his woman: I had a dream. His woman says: eat your eggs. The man says: I must take charge of this world, darling! And the woman will say, eat your eggs and go to work” (Hansberry 822). If Ruth and Walter had talked openly and freely about their problems, they would not have had such a serious communication problem. Marriages are difficult to maintain… middle of paper… the permanent state of being in love, or as we might better say “being” in love” (Fromm 1260). This story can really make readers think about love and what it means to fall in love. Love can be different for everyone, and there are all different types of love. For example, think of a mother and her baby. The love between a mother and child cannot be measured. When readers think about the characters in both stories and the principles Fromm states in his story "Is Love an Art," they might think that all the characters could have learned to Love. Love is not something you learn overnight. To love someone else you must first love yourself. Both Ruth and Nora didn't love themselves, so how would they ever love anyone else? William Shakespeare once said, “Love all, trust few, and harm none” (Shawn Robinson).