Chapter 1 introduces the institution of marriage in this matrilineal setting as a fulcrum of contestation, arguing that shifts in the broader political-economic context feed into this contestation and alter the stakes of marriage for men and women over time. The chapter offers ethnographic insight into married life in the twenty-first century, illuminating the nexus of love, marriage, and political economy, and demonstrating the continuing importance of marriage in rural Malawi, in contrast to other parts of Southern Africa where it appears to be in decline. This chapter highlights the mundanity of contestation and negotiation; illuminates the kinds of models and resources upon which spouses, and those charged with assisting them, draw as they strive for resolution to their marital disputes; and makes tangible the social and cultural context in which aspirations for justice are formed.