The Gift of a Virgin: Women, Marriage, and Ritual in a Bengali Society
New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1982. First Edition. Inscribed and signed by the author; with a signed handwritten note laid in. Octavo, xi, 178 pages, publisher's original dust jacket. Publisher's original red lettered tan cloth covered boards. Illustrated with black-and-white photographs. Lina M. Fruzzetti’s The Gift of a Virgin: Women, Marriage, and Ritual in a Bengali Society is a scholarly anthropological study of marriage, kinship, gender, and ritual life in West Bengal. Drawing on fieldwork and close observation of social customs, Fruzzetti examines the ways marriage ceremonies, family relationships, religious practices, and expectations surrounding women help structure Bengali social life. The work is particularly concerned with the symbolic and social meaning of marriage, the position of women within household and kinship networks, and the relationship between ritual practice and broader cultural values. Published by Rutgers University Press in 1982, the book is an important contribution to South Asian anthropology, women’s studies, and the study of marriage and ritual. Some rubbing and wear, some slight discoloration, else in very good condition. Item #528
Price: $100.00