Misogamy is an aversion to or hatred of marriage. The word dates from the mid-17th century and combines the Greek misos (hatred) with gamos (marriage).[1] Merriam-Webster date the first use of the word to around 1656.[2]

Medieval background

The idea of misogamy was important in the Christian church during the medieval period as a prerequisite for the celibacy required to occupy the highest positions in the church.[3] It was developed in the philosophy of Theophrastus who became the "canonical authority on philosophic misogamy throughout the Middle Ages".[4] Sara E. Diaz writes that two types of misogamy existed during the period, one advising all men against marriage, and another more limited form advising wise men against marriage.[5]

In literature

The literature of misogamy has been surveyed by Katharina Wilson and Elizabeth Makowski in their book Wykked Wyves and the Woes of Marriage: Misogamous Literature from Juvenal to Chaucer, published by the State University of New York in 1990.[6]

See also

Look up Misogamy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

References

  1. ↑ misogamy. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  2. ↑ misogamy. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  3. ↑ Wilson & Makowski 1990, p. 1.
  4. ↑ Germanic Notes, Erasmus Press, 1989. p. 93.
  5. ↑ "Authority and Misogamy in Boccaccio's Trattatello in laude di Dante" by Sara E. Diaz in Olivia Holmes & Dana E. Stewart. (Eds.) (2018). Reconsidering Boccaccio: Medieval Contexts and Global Intertexts. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. pp. 164–188 (p. 169). ISBN 978-1-4875-0178-5.
  6. ↑ Wilson & Makowski 1990.

Sources

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