Marriage to Death

by Rush Rehm

The link between weddings and death--as found in dramas ranging from Romeo and Juliet to Lorca's Blood Wedding --plays a central role in the action of many Greek tragedies. Female characters such as Kassandra, Antigone, and Helen enact and refer to significant parts of wedding and funeral rites, but often in a twisted fashion. Over time the pressure of dramatic events causes the distinctions between weddings and funerals to disappear. In this book, Rush Rehm considers how and why the conflation of the two ceremonies comes to theatrical life in the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripedes. By focusing on the dramatization of important rituals conducted by women in ancient Athenian society, Rehm offers a new perspective on Greek tragedy and the challenges it posed for its audience.

Genres: History, Literary Criticism, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Mythology

246 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1994

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent but disappointing; I didn't want a summary of every single place the trope is used in the plays under discussion (which are a reasonably comprehensive selection, and exactly the ones I would have chosen), I wanted actual arguments and analysis of them.

Since no longer being a classics student I think I've actually becoming more discerning about these things - I want criticism to excite me! To sweep me off my feet! To persuade me of something I didn't already believe! I found nothing to disagree with here, but it certainly didn't do that.

[Toviel · Rating 3 out of 5]

MARRIAGE TO DEATH is a collection of analytical essays examining the presence of death and marriage in a handful of Athenian plays. The book pays particular attention to the role of women in these plays, and how the various death-laced inversions of the marriage ritual reflect their lives and the culture around them. Each essay tackles a different play and theme, although many of its subjects are connected to one another.

However intriguing the topic, I found myself borderline bored with the book after a while. Rehm is a repetitive author, and his writing feels less like that of a renown classics scholar and more like a student trying to show their renown classics professor in their dissertation that they have read the classics. In fact, the lack of squabbling with other authorities on the same topic almost made me forget it's supposed to be an academic book. The book doesn't seem particularly concerned with the technical aspects of the plays in question, focusing more on the mythology and the the impact the plays might have had on their audiences.

MARRIAGE TO DEATH is an excellent resource for anyone looking for a list of plays in which death and marriage both play a part, and summaries thereof, but harder analysis of these titles can be found elsewhere.

[John L · Rating 5 out of 5]

I totally disagree with the reviews that say this book is boring or offers nothing new. I found it to be filled with fresh and fascinating insights into all the plays covered. My favorite chapters were:
Chapter 4 - Antigone
Chapter 5 - Women of Trachis. This is a very under-appreciated play of Sophocles and one of my favorites of the surviving tragedies.
Chapter 7 and Appendices B and C - Medea. Brilliant analysis of this horrifying masterpiece!
I have more than 100 volumes on the Greek tragedies in my library and have read dozens of others and this is among the best books of criticism I have read.

[Sissel · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the more interesting books I've had to read for university. Already after reading a chapter we switched to "Alkestis" as the book we were studying, and I think I read it in a different way than the other plays we've had so far. Thanks to this book, I guess.