In the study the author undertakes an attempt to answer the following question: what is the place in the legal structure of marriage – and what is essential, in relation to bona matrimonii: bonum prolis, bonum fidei, bonum sacramenti – of the newly defined significant element: (ordinatio ad) bonum coniugum? The presented research results in the form of a juxtaposition of paradigmatic depictions of the element of spouses’ good: (I) depictions that constitute – it seems – a closed chapter in history (the good of spouses exclusively in the “non-autonomous” configurations), (II) depictions that bode well for the future (the good of spouses in “autonomous” configurations) – remain, since they have to, an open proposal.