Autonomous Marriage in StarWars

    In the first image, Princess Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) and Han Solo (Harrison Ford) are pictured on the Rebel base on Hoth. This is around the development of their romantic relationship, before they are married. In the image, Leia is talking, clearly angry and scolding Han. Han is turned away, appearing to walk away from Leia as she follows him to continue her scolding. In the second image, Leia and Han, now about 30 years older, embrace on another Rebel base. In the background, the wing of an X-Wing fighter, a pilot, and a couple other rebels can be seen talking. At this point, Han and Leia are married, but have been separated for several years following the fall of their son, Ben (Kylo-Ren), to the dark side of the force. In this image, Han and Leia have reunited, and Han is comforting Leia. His posture is upright, his gaze facing straight ahead, with both his arms wrapped around Leia. By contrast, Leia is leaning into Han’s chest, her eyes are closed, and she is grasping at his shirt, instead of wrapping her arms around him. These differences make it clear that Han is comforting Leia, she is not comforting him.

    Throughout the Star Wars films, Leia and Han have a complicated relationship. During A New Hope, the film where both characters are introduced, Han, a smuggler, joins Luke Skywalker in his mission to rescue Leia, Princess of Alderaan and a galactic senator (and secretly a leader of the Rebel Alliance), from the Death Star. Han takes on a protective role for much of this film, but Leia also frequently takes control of the situation, best exemplified by her opening a trash shoot and forcing her companions to jump into the trash compactor to escape from stormtroopers. In The Empire Strikes Back, the next film chronologically, Leia (now a general in the Rebel Alliance) expresses her love for Han, just before he is frozen in carbonite and given to Jabba the Hutt as a gift. In the next film, Return of the Jedi, Leia rescues Han from his carbonite imprisonment, but is captured in the process. She, Han, and their companions fight their way out of Jabba’s captivity (with Leia strangling Jabba herself). After learning about the construction of another Death Star, Han, Leia, and their companions lead a team to destroy the energy field shielding the Death Star from attack. After their success, Han and Leia are married (though this is not directly portrayed in the film). In the 30 years between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, Han and Leia have a son, Ben, and work to establish The New Republic throughout the galaxy. Leia, specifically, participates significantly in politics. Eventually, their son falls to the dark side of the force, changing his name to Kylo-Ren. This stress disrupts their relationship, and they separate and become estranged for several years. Leia continues her work in politics, while Han returns to smuggling. They eventually reconnect, and are clearly still in love, but do not rekindle their romance before Han’s death.

    In “Authority and Autonomy in Marriage”, Marianne Weber discusses two form-principles of marriage; Authority, where the man is legally and socially superordinate to the woman, and autonomy, where both the man and the woman dedicate themselves to each other but also make decisions in their own best interest or to follow their own desires. In an authoritative marriage, the husband pursues his intellectual and moral goals, while the wife remains intellectually and morally stunted while labouring in the home. This leads to a monotonous marriage, where the husband grows intellectually and morally, eventually greatly surpassing the intellectual and moral capacity of his wife, causing the marriage to stagnate and become boring for both. However, in an autonomous marriage, both partners pursue their own intellectual and moral goals, meaning that they develop intellectually and morally at similar rates. Hence, they continue to bring new ideas into the marriage, keeping the relationship fun and interesting for both partners. Weber continues to stress that the wife’s intellectual and moral development outside the home does not preclude her from voluntarily submitting to her husband. This submission, however, differs from that in an authoritative marriage, where the woman must, by social convention and by necessity, submit to her husband, because in an autonomous marriage, this submission is a gift of love where the woman voluntarily puts her aspirations behind those of her husband, but compulsory submission in an authoritative marriage is a sacrifice of the woman’s aspirations without her consent. This compulsory submission is “blasphemy against her own human dignity” because she is placing her obedience to a human before her obedience to God, who gave her her own aspirations (Weber, 93). Weber also notes that husbands can (and perhaps should) also submit voluntarily to their wife’s will, as a similar gift of love, and should feel no shame for it.

    In Han and Leia’s relationship, there are moments where they each submit to each other, but for the majority of their relationship, they both pursue their own goals and continue their intellectual and moral development. When they first meet, Leia does tend to submit to Han’s will. Han and Luke find Leia on the Death Star and rescue her. However, rather quickly, these roles reverse, and Han submits to Leia’s will when she leads them into the trash compactor to escape from stormtroopers. This pattern continues throughout the series. For example, in the first image, Han and Leia are in conflict because they both refuse to submit to the will of the other. Leia scolds Han, and he refuses to listen to what she is saying, and this produces conflict, but also allows for the intellectual and moral development of both people. Additionally, in the third film, Return of the Jedi, Leia rescues Han from Jabba, then is captured herself but fights her own way out instead of relying on Han for protection. Similarly, in most of the battles, Leia fights alongside Han and the other male characters, instead of directing from the sidelines and allowing them to protect her. Finally, after the defeat of the Empire, she continues to pursue her own political goals, helping to build the New Republic, instead of becoming a housewife or submitting to Han’s will. In fact, it is sometimes portrayed in some Star Wars books that Han becomes a sort of househusband; a gift of submission made out of love, where he puts Leia’s aspirations ahead of his own because he wishes to love and support her. After their separation, despite their continued love, Han and Leia both pursue their own aspirations for a time. Eventually, when they reconnect, as shown in the second image, Leia returns to a somewhat more submissive role, once more reversing their positions. Possibly because of her age, she returns to more organizational duties within the New Republic, while Han undertakes the mission to return Kylo-Ren to the light side of the force, in an attempt to protect Leia and the rest of the galaxy. Overall, throughout their relationship, both Han and Leia pursue their own aspirations and moral and intellectual development. However, they also both voluntarily choose to submit to each other’s will at times out of love and support for the other. These two qualities make them a wonderful example of Marianne Weber’s ideal, autonomous marriage.

Bibliography

StarWars.com Team. 2014. “Untitled 6” From starwars.com. Retrieved April 15, 2026 (https://www.starwars.com/news/the-starwars-com-10-best-han-and-leia-moments)

McClusky, Megan. 2016. “Untitled 1” From time.com. Retrieved April 15, 2026 (https://time.com/4410369/carrie-fisher-princess-leia-han-solo-estranged/)

Weber, Marianne. 2003. "Authority and Autonomy in Marriage: Translation with Introduction and Commentary by Craig R. Bermingham." Sociological Theory 21(2):85-102.