I think another reason Frodo did not marry is because he needed to be away from people. I do not think he would be able to take the sound of children, his own and others in the Shire. He ends up going with the Elves who are very peaceful and quiet people. My point is I think Frodo needed a relaxed quiet life after such an adventure. Bilbo not so much.

Even so... I'd like to think that The Shire would be even more progressive than California ;)

I'm not sure. Seems that if he wanted total piece and quiet, he would have asked Sam to live elsewhere. Think that it wasn't only a peaceful environment he sought, but a peace of the soul. For Frodo, so marred by the Ring, his only recourse short of death was Aman. Surely he could have just died, or taken his own life, but he deserved some reward as Frodo's act saved many a people and thing. He gets nothing in the Shire, though the inhabitants should have built a monument to him (as Gondor should have). So, in the end, he gets a boat ride into the West. Not, mayhap, as fitting an end as some of us would have preferred, but with some thought (which it provokes), it makes sense.

One supposes they had had enough with rings of bondage...

Good idea to revive this thread, Alatar!
I had been contemplating this too, especially after reading some fanfictions...;)

But I think Frodo was always an exceptional hobbit, already long before the quest (probably through all that he had been taught by Bilbo). There was always a longing in him for something higher.
I guess there were just no hobbit lasses around that would have been a match for Frodo, that would have understood him!

And look at this quote:
:eek: Well, considering this opinion he could hardly find anyone in the Shire to fall in love with!

On the other hand, when Frodo greets Goldberry, he behaves almost a bit like someone falling in love...
And after the quest, he's too estranged and damaged anyway, poor Hobbit!

I think, in the case of Bilbo, perhaps he just didn't feel like getting married. That in itself is a lot of responsibility on someone, and maybe before his journey, he was that sort of hobbit. Before Gandalf showed up, he'd been portrayed as an ordinary hobbit, remember how horrified he was that such outlandish folk would be seen around Bag End?But after the journey, he would rather have been writing in his book, and he set Frodo up as his heir, so there was no need for him to marry just to have kids. Frodo, on the other hand, was stuck between being sociable and being with Bilbo. The older hobbit played a huge part in his life, and it wouldn't be surprising if he'd been Frodo's role model. If it hadn't been for him, Frodo would likely have not felt such a taste for adventure, because he would not have seen what good was possible to come of it.

Maybe meeting Lobelia Sackville-Baggins put Bilbo off marriage.

Good one. Although maybe it was meeting Smaug that put Bilbo off of marriage. I mean maybe his happy day dreams of love got mixed with his nightmares of Smaug breathing fire and he began dreaming about a fire breathing wife.

I accept the 'old bachelor' idea about Bilbo. He's the kind of person (or Hobbit) who's considered a little odd, but he accepts it with a shrug, minds his own business, and hangs out with his cousins rather than a wife. :)

Frodo was strongly influenced by Bilbo, so his bacherlorhood likely started there. In addition, he seemed a bit more introverted than the other Hobbits, and there's the strong possibility he simply wasn't interested in marriage. That's how I'm wired - I'm just not interested. Maybe I'll meet someone in the future, but I'll let that take care of itself. For now, a boyfriend would serve no purpose.