>>111274152>>111280551I think it's because back then it wasn't respectable to live together and have sex before marriage, and also divorce wasn't really a done thing.
So a lot of people got married without really knowing each other that well and then had no way out of the marriage when it turned out they weren't that compatible in the long run. Forced to share their lives, people easily grow resentful, and thus you get a lot of the "old ball and chain" jokes to make people feel like everyone else is stuck in the same shitty dynamic, it's just how marriages work, or whatever.
Like can you imagine having been made to marry the first boyfriend/girlfriend you thought you loved back in what, high school? And then not really be able to divorce?