The bride of Menelaus (talk about honest women) writes:
Marriage does not make a man (or woman!) honest.
Father Steve (wish he would make a reappearance) could tell you that marriage is the only one of the sacraments in which the participants are themselves the celebrants. They, not the priest or other minister or person, bring upon themselves whatever grace or gift the sacrament confers. Hence it follows that they receive from it what they themselves bring to it, and if you bring little, you get little. So, while I don't believe that Helen was implying that marriage doesn't do much for anyone, there are a lot of people who think exactly that, but they're wrong. It isn't marriage per se that is lacking, it's the spouses who are lacking.