How young can I get away with Angus being?

[AnyaKimlin]

I've been playing with a slightly younger voice for Mayhem. Now he becomes a king and has to get married. At seventeen that felt right but I'm thinking younger than sixteen might not be a good idea?

 

[Warren_Paul]

In the past, the arranged marriage of children happened at much younger ages than we would be comfortable with today. So it wouldn't be unexpected for a child to get married in a story. But the problem starts when some readers might have issue with it because they can only relate to situations as they happen today, where no parent would willingly let a 15 year old or younger get married -- it's even illegal in most countries.

I'd suspect 16 is your limit without alienating some of your audience.

 

[Mad Alice]

If it were a state marriage where it was basically a marriage in name only with limited or even no cohabitation involved, that wouldn't be an issue.

An episode of "The Simpsons" got away with having Bart get married to a older girl, through emphasis upon Bart's relative ignorance of the particulars of Adult relationships.

The Tom Hanks movie, "Big", if examined carefully was actually fairly risque in this regard. A twelve year old boy, aged by his wish into a thirty year old, takes up relations with a woman at least twice his biological age.

Instead of being reviled for depicting what could be misconsrued as a predatory relationship, it was lauded as a tale of innocence and the wonder of first love.

So it would depend upon the circumstances. How you manipulate peoples perceptions into accepting the situation.

For instance, a history teacher once pointed out to us that the average adult in celtic times was less then twenty-five years old. And most Adults within the usual war clan or hunting party were approximently sixteen years old.

Back then, if you hit your thirtieth birthday, you were considered to be quite elderly.

So if your character's co-horts in this royal court are all teenagers, it would be viewed as a bunch of teenagers doing what they do. And that has always been allowed, (more or less).

 

[Denise Tanaka]

It's always a delicate balance of what contemporary readers will accept vs. actual customs. You run into all those hot-button issues of arranged marriages, human trafficking, child marriage, domestic abuse, etc. My daughter has gotten involved in some political advocacy groups and the true stories of girls in these conditions is just heart-breaking. I agree that 16 or 17 is your lower limit.

 

[AnyaKimlin]

The technology is about 5 to 10 years ahead of ours. I have brought in VR games etc

He is an absolute monarch, his wife is two years older and they've known each other all their lives. They have been dating for awhile.
.

 

[Mad Alice]

If you cut her age down by six months, it should hold within guidelines. Right now there is that whole "over eighteen / under eighteen" mish mosh going on. If they are both under eighteen and over fifteen, then its considered up to them what goes on were this an actual breathing set of persons.

 

[AnyaKimlin]

Or I could court some controversy. I will see how it works in the story.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

If they are both under eighteen and over fifteen, then its considered up to them what goes on were this an actual breathing set of persons

Depends on the Country. Or even local Social Welfare or Plod. Generally in a story depends purely on what period of history and local mores.

 

[K.S. Crooks]

It depends on the setting/timeframe of your story. The age difference between characters is more important to most when the people involved are younger. A 17 year old with a 25 year old my be looked poorly on, however a 46 year old with someone 54 is no problem. context is the major decider, remember Romeo is 16, Juliette is 14 and their tale of woe ends with suicide.