salary. He was the only son of a
divorced woman. His mother loved him dearly; he was her great source of
comfort in the loneliness and disappointment of her own wrecked
marriage. Helen saw the fine qualities in him and felt that he was being
shut away from normal life because his mother wrapped herself around
him. When the mother was laid up in the hospital for three months, Helen
set about a well-planned campaign. They were married shortly afterward.

His mother valiantly refrained from going with them on the
honeymoon--and arranged for them to live across the hall from her in the
same apartment building. William felt sincerely that he must not allow
his mother to be lonely, and he could not understand why his wife showed
irritation when the three of them were together four or five nights
every week and throughout the summer vacation. But when he realized that
it was not working out, they finally moved to the other side of town and
limited the evenings with his mother to two or three a week.

When they first married, William insisted that his wife give up her
work, and he also felt that he ought to manage the family finances--with
his mother's constant advice. Helen longed for children, and she
surrendered her business career in the hope that she might have a
family. But no children came, and at last Helen found a new position,
not so good as the one from which she had resigned.

She loves William passionately, but she feels that his mother has
spoiled their marriage. William loves Helen, but feels that she is
unaccountably hard and unfriendly toward his mother, and he is
distressed by her insistence upon earning her own income. The mother
wants both to be happy and is willing to retire into the background, but
she believes that Helen does not really appreciate William; as a mother
she does not propose to see her son's life ruined by any woman.

William's mother fixation is a somewhat extreme example of a fairly
frequent source of conflict. In some cases the bride suffers from father
fixation, and her husband suffers accordingly.

Our fourth case illustrates another widespread type of marriage problem.
Sam had had a gay and jolly life before he married. Mabel felt keen
pride when she finally captured him from the other girls. He really
meant to settle down and be loyal to her when they married. Their
passion for each other was absorbing and wonderful for a while. Twins
were born promptly, and a year later came ano