I have a confession to make: ‘The Killing Joke’ is the only Batman story I have ever read, until now. And the only reason I read another one is because I came across a Reddit post entitled ‘Remember when Batman was forced to marry Thalia and?’ Don’t judge me.
If you are as unfamiliar with Batman as I am, Batman is a superhero who fights the criminals of Gotham City, USA, to revenge his murdered parents. Anti-hero/ villain Thalia is in love with Batman. Unfortunately, she is also the daughter, assistant and successor of Ra’s al Ghul, leader of the League of Nations and Batman’s adversary.
Their wedding story goes like this: With the intention to exercise in the Batcave, Batman punches a bag that, without his knowledge, had been filled with a gas that knocks him unconscious. Before he ‘plunges into a chasm of darkness’, he ‘senses the presence of enemies and [unsuccessfully] tries to defend himself … [Before he is carried away by three armed men,] he hears a familiar voice [saying: “] Do not harm my beloved![“]’. The voice belongs to Thalia al Ghul. Another voice, that of Thalia’s father Ra’s, says: ‘By the power invested in me I now pronounce you Batman and wife!’ When Batman comes to, he doesn’t ‘remember saying “I do”!’ Ra’s retort: ‘Not necessary! In my nation, the consent of the female and her father are sufficient for marriage!’ Someone adds that they ‘[are at sea because] the marriage would not be legal in the United States’. Even though Batman did not consent to the marriage, there is talk of love. Thalia says to Batman: ‘There is no man your equal. Therefore, you are the only man I can love.’ Batman responds: ‘ You’re everything I could possibly want in a woman … If I were anyone else, I’d cherish you for the rest of my life! But I can’t consider our marriage real!’ And because Thalia would ‘keep [him] from doing what [he] must’, he knocks her unconscious and escapes.
Well, my dear readers, what do you think? Do you consider Batman’s marriage to Thalia real?
As always, the answer of the lawyer is: It depends. The ship is at sea. But where at sea? And what, if any, is the ship’s flag state (the state where the ship is registered)?
Why does it matter, you ask?
It matters because we have to determine the applicable law. At this point I should also confess that I am not an expert in the law of the sea but let’s see how we go.
Despite the note that the marriage would be illegal in the United States, US law does not actually seem to be relevant. After his escape, Batman assumes that the ship is ‘somewhere off he coast of Canada’. If that is correct, and the ship is in Canada’s territorial waters, Canadian law applies. Article 2.1 of Canada’s Civil Marriage Act requires the ‘free and enlightened consent of two persons to be the spouses of each other’. Applying that to Batman’s and Thalia’s situation, theirs would not be a real marriage because Batman did not consent. The marriage would be invalid.
If the ship is further off Canada’s coast and in international waters, the law of the ship’s flag state applies. Now, we don’t know where the ship is registered, if it is registered. Let’s assume that it is not and that Ra’s’ word is the law on his ship. That would mean that Batman’s marriage to Thalia is real. The bride and her father consented. Consent of the groom is not required for a valid marriage.
Now, I have done a survey of the marriage laws of all UN member states for Helen McCabe’s project about the relationship between forced marriage and modern slavery and I cannot remember having come across a real world example where a marriage like that would be valid. Instead, a marriage to which one of the parties does not consent would be a forced marriage.
But they love each other, I hear someone say.
Well, love doesn’t always win. Even though, in reality, a love marriage might be likely to be consensual, that is not the case for Batman. He might have feelings for Thalia, but he still does not want to marry her. He does not consent. Therefore the marriage is forced, butterflies or not.
Luckily he escaped.
Just to say, that doesn’t always happen in reality. Some people cannot escape, others make a choiceless decision to stay in a forced marriage so as not to lose their social ties.
Speaking of ties, does it matter that Ra’s tied the knot between his daughter and Batman?
Maybe not when it comes to the question as to whether the marriage is consensual or forced. But it can lead to a different answer as to whether the marriage is real. In Canada, a person has to be a licensed officiant to legally marry people. I would be surprised if Ra’s got a license. But then, if the ship is not registered and was in international waters at the time of the wedding, and if Ra’s makes the rules on his ship, who is to say that he did not invest in himself the powers to legally marry Thalia and Batman.
So, is Batman’s marriage to Thalia real? Under Canadian law, and the law of most if not all other countries for that matter, it isn’t. A marriage without the consent of both spouses is invalid. It’s a forced marriage. Under the rules of Ra’s, it’s a different matter and the marriage would be real.
Written by Hannah Baumeister
Drawing on Forced Marriage 