Replotting Marriage.

The main focus of the article is Lisa O’Connell's book, *The Origins of the English Marriage Plot: Literature, Politics and Religion in the Eighteenth Century*, which explores the political origins of the English marriage plot in relation to the Anglican Church, the English state, and the commercial sphere, particularly surrounding the Marriage Act of 1753. O’Connell argues that the marriage plot in English novels, from Samuel Richardson to Jane Austen, is not merely secular but reflects a "post-secular" context, revealing its roots in early eighteenth-century efforts to intertwine the sacred with governmental and civic life. The book provides a detailed historiographical account of the marriage plot's development, examining its connections to clandestine marriages and theatrical representations, and highlights how later authors transformed earlier narratives into a formal convention that shaped modern understandings of marriage in literature. [Extracted from the article]