Execution viewed as wedding

[Catherine Aman]

anecdotal & free-associative thoughts only here, but some of my (male)
friends have looked, at their weddings, distinctly like lambs being led to
slaughter.  resultant states of both wedding & execution proceedings are (or
are supposed to be) permanent, and anticipation of same therefore inspires
awe, fear & sense of radical departure from one's current status/world. both
ceremonies are (or were) public, state-sanctioned ones in traditional
communities. also, Catholic nuns renounce the world and "marry" the Church.

> ----------
> From:         Laurence Horn
> Reply To:     American Dialect Society
> Sent:         Friday, July 19, 2002 3:08 PM
> To:   ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject:      Re: Execution viewed as wedding
>
> At 1:38 PM -0500 7/19/02, Gerald Cohen wrote:
> >
> >     If anyone familiar with other cultures has more examples of this
> >execution-as-wedding view, I'd be grateful to hear of them.
> >
> I don't know much about other cultures, but could there be a
> connection with the old factoid (I don't know if it's actually true)
> that upon being hanged, men get (and retain post-mortem) rather
> impressive erections?  There are various fabliaux based on this
> assumption as well.  But that would certainly reinforce the hanging =
> wedding connection.
>
> larry
>
>