Marriage Rings Research Articles

Survival of the Fittest: A Review on Charles Dickens’ ‘Oliver Twist’

The story of Oliver Twist follows Oliver from his birth in a workhouse in England, uncovering the contemporary systems that lead him to Mr. Brownlow and Mrs. Maylie at last. It takes a sharp turn taking Oliver back to Mr. Brownlow as an adopted son. Dickens gives the boy a full circle of reason from the birth of uncertainty to life of certainty by making good win over evil, of course with the sacrifice of Nancy. With the characters like Charley Bates, Jack Dawkins, Fagin, Bill Sikes, Old Sally, Nancy, Mr. Brownlow, Mrs. Bedwin, Mrs. Maylie and many, the author reveals the systems and influences that lead them to make certain decisions that have altered Oliver’s life. When Oliver's mother dies after giving him birth, she disappears unidentified. Considering her death without a marriage ring on her finger, she is assumed to be unmarried and thus considered dishonored. As a baby boy, Oliver is seen as unworthy and is kept oppressed by the systems in place of helping him. As a child, Oliver Twist is accommodated in a children orphanage. The wording like, ‘less-than, inhuman, subhuman,’ alone reveals the way orphaned children are treated. Once he is old enough to work, at only nine years old, he is sent to a workhouse. These workhouses are meant to help the poor, but through Oliver's experiences, the readers can understand that they use the poor as bonded labour while greedily using and abusing them. Although Nancy is at first guilty in the crimes against Oliver, it is revealed that she has suffered in similar ways. She attempts to help Oliver and this sends Bill Sikes into an uncontrollable rage. Her murder reveals Bill's cruelty and draws sympathy for Nancy. Unlike her friends, Nancy tries to turn her life around, acting in kindness to save the boy. Although Oliver suffered throughout the book, his desire for to be good leads him to salvation with the honorable Mr. Brownlow. The unrestrained cruelty and corruption of Bill Sikes and Fagin led to their deaths. The author has martyred Nancy but punishes the characters that choose to continue to practice crime and violence. At the end, the good characters enjoy and the bad characters suffer.

The First English Collector of Jewish Wedding Rings and their Dealers

AbstractThis essay discusses genuine medieval Jewish marriage rings, mostly dated to the fourteenth century, and then examines the rise in the collecting of Jewish marriage rings in the nineteenth century. As a result of the paucity of genuine medieval examples, forgers created rings that drew on characteristics of the early examples and on the decorative forms and techniques of other types of jewelry. Unscrupulous dealers then sold the forged marriage rings to collectors eager to complete their collections by including a Jewish example. The essay concludes with a consideration of possible motives for acquiring Jewish marriage rings.

It's Funny Because It's True (Because It Evokes Our Evolved Psychology)

Evolutionary psychology (EP) and comedian Chris Rock have both grown increasingly prominent over the past quarter-century. EP has blossomed because of its unique ability to explore humans' universal nature. Rock's stand-up routines have vaulted him into the pantheon of comedic talents because, intentionally or not, his comedy is based on a sophisticated appreciation and invocation of humans' evolved psychology. Conventional wisdom and recent EP research suggest that “something is funny because it's true.” This perspective on humor rings especially true in Rock's routines. Much of Rock's riffs on sex and marriage ring true and hence funny with his audiences because he deftly evokes their awareness of evolved sex differences in human mating strategies. Popular culture such as Rock's comedy can provide a window into human nature. I illustrate the intersection of EP and popular culture by unpacking the evolutionary theory and empirical evidence underlying 22 verbatim bits on human mating from Rock's five HBO comedy specials. Incorporating Rock's outrageously funny, theoretically sound, and empirically supported perspectives on sex and marriage into discussions of the primary literature is a sure-fire way to grab young people's attention and make memorable the myriad ways that sex differences stem from asymmetrical obligatory parental investment.

The Severed Hand in Webster's Duchess of Malfi

This essay adduces a new source for John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi—Henry Boguet's extremely popular Discourse exécrable des sorciers. Boguet's chapter "Of the Metamorphosis of Men into Beasts" provides a strong link to the dead-man's hand episode in The Duchess and to Webster's representation of lycanthropic possession throughout the play. This finding places Webster's tragedy firmly within an intensely felt topical discourse on witchcraft and also reveals the logic behind Ferdinand's mad attempt to sever the marital bond between the Duchess and her husband by presenting her with a severed hand bearing a marriage ring.

Between magic and religion: interdisciplinary studies in ancient Mediterranean religion and society

Part 1 Foreword Part 2 Preface Part 3 Introduction Part 4 Part I: Ancient Religion, Self and Other Part 5 A: Greeks and Others Chapter 6 Barbarian Bond: Thracian Bendis among the Athenians Chapter 7 Magic, Religion, and Syncretism at the Oracle of Claros Part 8 B: Roman Magic and Religion from Two Perspectives Chapter 9 Saving Water: Early Floods in the Forum Chapter 10 Magic, Dreams, and Ritual in the Iroquois Conversion Part 11 Part II: Man, Hero or God? Chapter 12 The Dynamics of Deification in Horace's Odes 1-3 Chapter 13 Olympias' Snake and Callisthenes' Stand: Religion and Politics in Plutarch's Life of Alexander Chapter 14 The Cult of Achilles in Philostratus' Heroikos: A Study in the Relation of Canon and Ritual Part 15 Part III: Religious Iconography in Late Antiquity Chapter 16 Coins Used as Amulets in Late Antiquity Chapter 17 A Reconsideration of Early Byzantine Marriage Rings Chapter 18 The Femme-aux-Serpents at Moissac: Luxuria (Lust) or a Bad Mother? Part 19 Bibliography Part 20 Index

Newman's 'Lesson of the Marriage Ring'

Newman's 'Lesson of the Marriage Ring'

The renaissance of public worship in the church of Scotland, 1865–1905

On his way to one of the early meetings of the church service society, Story met Charteris on the street, who asked what were their aims. He replied, ‘To restore the ring in marriage, the cross in baptism, and the denial of the cup to the laity’. Charteris fled in horror.Before discussing the renaissance of public worship in the church of Scotland it is necessary to look at the background. The lineage of reformed worship can be traced from Diebold Schwarz’s translation of the Hagenau Missal into German in 1524 through Bucer and Calvin, both of whom desired weekly communion, to the Scottish Book of Common Order (1564). When the civil authorities forbade weekly communion, Bucer and Calvin did not prepare an order of service for Sunday morning, but rubricated the order for communion as to how it should end when there was no celebration of the supper: that is, the eucharist was the norm for public worship.

Marriage rings

Marriage rings

Marriage rings

Marriage rings

On the Golden Marriage Belt and the Marriage Rings of the Dumbarton Oaks Collection

On the Golden Marriage Belt and the Marriage Rings of the Dumbarton Oaks Collection

XXIII.—The Young Man Betrothed to a Statue

One of the many interesting stories current in the Middle Ages is that of a young man who puts his marriage ring on the finger of a statue of Venus and is surprised to find that the image, taking the matter au sérieux, jealously forbids him the embraces of his earthly bride. Its relation to a large group of miracles of the Virgin has been frequently noticed (for example, by Mussafia and by Ward and Herbert ); it has received some attention from students of Mérimée as the source of his Vénus d'Ille; and Massmann, in his edition of the Kaiserchronik (1849-1854) collected a large number of variants (together with an almost equal number of faulty references). But Graf is the only scholar who has studied it in any detail, and his treatment is far from complete. I propose here to bring together the scattered materials of previous students, both of the story of the ring-betrothal to the Venus statue and of the Virgin miracle. I shall add no new versions of either story, but I shall discuss the former from a point of view radically different from Graf's, and shall endeavour to follow the tale from its obscure beginnings before William of Malmesbury, through its adaptation as a miracle of the Virgin, down to some of its present literary forms.

Why betrothal and marriage rings are worn on the fourth finger

Why betrothal and marriage rings are worn on the fourth finger

Wey betrothal and marriage rings are worn on the fourth finger

Wey betrothal and marriage rings are worn on the fourth finger Get access F. J. F. F. J. F. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Notes and Queries, Volume s7-IV, Issue 93, 8 October 1887, Page 285, https://doi.org/10.1093/nq/s7-IV.93.285a Published: 03 October 1887

The ring in marriage

The ring in marriage

The ring in marriage

The ring in marriage Get access Edward H. Marshall, M.A. Edward H. Marshall, M.A. 1Hastings Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Notes and Queries, Volume s7-III, Issue 76, 11 June 1887, Page 486, https://doi.org/10.1093/nq/s7-III.76.486c Published: 11 June 1887

The ring in marriage

The ring in marriage

The ring in marriage

Journal Article The ring in marriage Get access W. Lovell W. Lovell 1Cambridge Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Notes and Queries, Volume s7-III, Issue 72, 14 May 1887, Page 398, https://doi.org/10.1093/nq/s7-III.72.398b Published: 14 May 1887

The ring in marriage

Journal Article The ring in marriage Get access A. H. D. A. H. D. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Notes and Queries, Volume s7-III, Issue 72, 14 May 1887, Page 398, https://doi.org/10.1093/nq/s7-III.72.398a Published: 14 May 1887

The ring in marriage

The ring in marriage

The ring in marriage

The ring in marriage