Marriage takes some kind of sacrifice, not dreadful self-sacrifice of the soul, but some level of compromise. Some of one's fantasies, some of one's legitimate desires have to be given up for the value of the marriage itself. Marriage requires sexual, financial and emotional disciplines. A man and a woman cannot follow every impulse, cannot allow himself or herself to stop growing or changing.
A divorce is not an evil act. Sometimes it provides salvation for people who have grown hopelessly apart or frozen in patterns of pains or mutual unhappiness. Divorce can be like the first cut of the surgeon's knife, a step toward new health and a good life. On the other hand, if the partners can stay past the breaking up of the romantic myths into the development of real love and intimacy, they have achieved a work as amazing as the greatest cathedrals of the world. Marriages that do not fail but improve, that persist despite imperfection, are not only rare these days but offer a wondrous shelter in which the face of our mutual humanity can safely show itself.
According to the passage, an ideal marriage life ______.

A. requires considerable sacrifice on both partners
B. requires that the couple be emotionally involved
C. allows for the growth of the husband and wife as a couple and as two individuals
D. is only an illusion in today's society