ENGLISH

Between Poverty and the Pyre: Moments in the History of Widowhood

By Jan Bremmer , Lourens Van Den Bosch

Book information

Publisher
Routledge
Year
1995
ISBN
9780203036983, 9780203308530, 9780415083706, 0203036980, 0415083702
LCC
HQ1058 .B48 1994
Open Library ID
OL1102090M
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
4 MB (3694381 bytes)
Pages
288\285
Topic
History
Scanned
yes
Time added
2011-04-28 18:43:47

Description

Between Poverty and the Pyre examines the history of the experience of widowhood across different cultures. It brings together a collection of essays by historians, anthropologists and philologists. The book shows how difficult it is to define the 'typical' widow, as the experiences of these women have differed so widely, not simply because of their different time periods and locations, but also becuase of their varying legal and religious status and economic conditions. The study is diverse with subjects ranging from: *Hindu wives who followed their husbands to the pyre *widows who were burned as witches *and widows who had to become prostitutes to stay alive. The book also explores Jesus's interest in widows and the experience of some well-known widows, such as Mohammed's first wife.

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