Stealing the crib

What do Joan Collins, Madonna, and Karl Marx’s wife have in common?

All three women married spouses younger than themselves.

In this day and age, such occasions are numerous enough not to cause undue concern. However, on June 19, 1843, when Karl Marx, a nobody, married Jenny von Westphalen, daughter of a German baron, it was something. In fact, for several years the two kept their engagement a secret, and both realized that this was not a marriage that would meet the approval of either family.

An older woman who marries a younger man always generates speculation. What does he see in her? What does she see in him? In the case of Karl Marx, one would be inclined to say that part of his choice lies in the fact that he was a very selfish man. In this marriage, it was less about what he could do for his wife and more about what his wife could do for him.

While he was busy contemplating the possibility of a world revolution, his wife and six children lived in extreme poverty, supported by the charity of friends.

In the latter part of her married life, while Karl was spending his time in the Reading Rooms of the British Museum, Jenny was busy traveling from her two rented rooms in Chelsea, to the pawn broker and vice versa. Despite their visits, the Marx family was kicked out of their two rooms for not paying their rent and moved to cheaper accommodation in Soho. By then Jenny had gotten rid of any silverware worth selling, while the rooms were pretty innocent of any furniture.

According to British statistics, older women marrying a younger man have now risen to more than 25% of all couples.

Some of the reasons given for the trend is that the older woman, who is still longing for a family, wants a healthy father for her children. Men, on the other hand, when choosing an older woman, expect an emotionally and financially independent woman. Most importantly, they are looking for a woman who is old enough to realize that if they want to be happy, it is their responsibility and not their husband’s.