Leonard J. Arrington
Mormon History Lecture Series, 2009
"The Emotional and Priestly Logic of Plural Marriage"
Thursday, October 1st, 7:00 p.m.
Logan Tabernacle, 50 North Main
Kathleen Flake, Assistant Professor of American Religious History, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
Like so much else in the new nation, traditional understandings of the relationship between the sexes were challenged by many Americans. Chief among the challengers were the Latter-day Saints who turned from monogamy to polygamy, as well as from Puritan simplicity to temple complexity in the marriage rite itself. How did these changes reflect a new understanding of marriage, different from both Catholic and Protestant meanings? More personally, how did the people entering these relationships understand their rights and duties in the marriage? Using published accounts of LDS marriage ceremonies and personal journals, Kathleen Flake will discuss these questions within the larger context of the evolution of marital norms and romantic love in the first half of the nineteenth century.
For information about the Arrington Lecture, contact Brad Cole at Utah State University, (435) 797-8268.
