In The Wedding Complex Elizabeth Freeman explores the significance of the wedding ceremony by asking what the wedding becomes when you separate it from the idea of marriage. Freeman finds that weddings-as performances, fantasies, and rituals of transformation-are sites for imagining and enacting forms of social intimacy other than monogamous heterosexuality. Looking at the history of Anglo-American weddings and their depictions in American literature and popular culture from the antebellum era to the present, she reveals the cluster of queer desires at the heart of the "wedding complex"-longings not for marriage necessarily, but for public forms of attachment, ceremony, pageantry, and celebration. Freeman draws on queer theory and social history to focus on a range of texts where weddings do not necessarily lead to legal marriage, but instead reflect yearnings for intimate arrangements other than long-term, state-sanctioned, domestic couplehood.
Beginning with a look at the debates over gay marriage, she proceeds to consider literary works by Nathaniel Hawthorne, William Faulkner, Carson McCullers, Vladimir Nabokov, and Edgar Allen Poe, along with such Hollywood films as Father of the Bride, The Graduate, and The Godfather. She also discusses less well-known texts such as Su Friedrich's experimental film First Comes Love and the off-Broadway interactive dinner play Tony 'n' Tina's Wedding. Offering bold new ways to imagine attachment and belonging, and the public performance and recognition of social intimacy, The Wedding Complex is a major contribution to American studies, queer theory, and cultural studies.
Industry Reviews
" ... Freeman's social thought is far more compelling than the literary analysis to which it is hitched."--Elaine Showalter, Times Literary Supplement, 28 November 2003 "This subtly argued book provides welcome relief from the predictable debates that often surround the issue of same-sex marriage. Uncoupling the ritual of the wedding from the legal reality of the marriage, Elizabeth Freeman demonstrates that weddings are, in and of themselves, quite queer indeed... She provides a cogent argument for avoiding the marriage trap while encouraging us to throw all the parties we want."--Out Magazine "[I]ntriguing and original...The Wedding Complex shows that weddings don't equal marriage, and Freeman's divorcing this couple shows us just how rocky their relationship has always been."--Chris Freeman, CLGH Newsletter "[I]nteresting and insightful. Freeman's work creatively illustrates how deeply entrenched notions of marriage are in American society, defining our conceptions of national and personal attachment solely through a monogamous, dyadic couple."--Priscilla Yamin, The New Formulation "[T]he timeliness, sophistication, and originality of the argument make this a worthwhile book, even (actually, especially) for those beyond the field of 'wedding studies.' It's also well written and occasionally hilarious."--Karen Dubinsky, Journal of the History of Sexuality "Freeman's work has the joy and playfulness of new scholarship... The work as a whole is both fresh and timely..."--Lori Askeland, American Quarterly "[Freeman] concludes with a good discussion of gay marriage, and a suggestion that the gay community might be better off avoiding wedding rituals and looking for alternative forms of recognition and parity."--Elaine Showalter, TLS "With catchy quotes and anecdotes throughout, this [book] would be suitable for any reader interested in the concept of weddings."-- Gemma England, M/C : Journal of Media and Culture "Freeman presents highly original but historically-grounded readings of early modern wedding law and ritual... [She] achieve[s] extraordinarily detailed, original, and incisive readings... The Wedding Complex stands as our most original and theoretically sophisticated work to date on the American wedding. It establishes Freeman as an exciting and important scholar not only in popular culture, but also in American literature, queer studies, antebellum history, and race theory."--Stephanie Harzewski, Iowa Journal of Cultural Studies Interviewed in Chronicle Review's Commentary. Also reviewed in Choice and Out. Interviewed on Indiebride. Listed in PW, Cultural Critique, Library Journal, Women's Review of Books, Feminist Academic Press column, TLS Book Alert email, Journal of the History of Sexuality, Women's Studies, College Literature, Critical Inquiry, and Journal of American History. Abstract in Philadelphia Gay News. Freeman was on NPR's "The Todd Mundt Show" and on the OutQ network. Mixed review in Journal of Marriage and Family and American Historical Review
