killians-tinkabelle:

One of my favorite moments of Murder Most Foul is Killian asking Charming for his blessing to ask Emma to marry him. Normally I am not a fan of this tradition due to the history behind it but this time it melted my heart. It melted so much that it is the focus of Nerd Moment 1 (that’s right, I’m writing 2 this week).

The tradition of ask permission to marry a daughter dates back the the beginning of time. We all have seen it in movies and even read about it in books, fiction and nonfiction. The tradition was not a tradition when it began but actually a contract. A contract between a man with a fortune, land and oh a daughter and a man who wanted to increase his fortune, land and oh have sons so there would be a family name to keep strong. For centuries marriage had nothing to do with love and all to do with increasing wealth and forming alliances. Of course over the centuries this “tradition” died out. Men no longer needed to create talk to a potential wife’s father about a contract for a marriage proposal to happen. 

Let me correct myself actually. There was no need for a contract but the tradition of asking for permission or a blessing stood. It was and still is the very gentlemanly thing to do. 

I know, I know. For some it is an antiquated idea. Women aren’t cattle or property. No one needs to sign off on women being allowed to be proposed to. You are right no woman does. Which is why when Charming tells Killian he didn’t know he was so old fashioned it showed us that even in Charming’s eyes, Prince of the Enchanted Forest, Killian DID NOT need his permission or blessing because he knows Emma is her own person for one and two this was a tradition that in Emma’s world had become outdated. 

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