The Gender of Death: A Cultural History in Art and Literature

Why is it that in some cultures and times, literature, folklore, and art commonly represent death as a man, in others as a woman? Karl S. Guthke shows that these choices, which often contradict the grammatical gender of the word ‘death’ in the language concerned, are neither arbitrary nor accidental. In earlier centuries, the gender of the figure of death contributed to the interpretation of biblical narrative - in particular, whether the original sin was that of Adam or Eve - and also reflected the importance of the classical figure of Thanatos. More recently, the gender of death as angel, lover, or bride - whether terrifying or welcome - has carried powerful psychological and social connotations. Tracing the gender of representations of death in art and literature from medieval times to the present day, Guthke offers astonishing new insights into the nature and perception of the Western self in its cultural, intellectual, and literary context.

• Four-colour cover • Extensive illustrations • First book-length study of a topic of enormous relevance to Western literature, art, and culture • Very accessible: well written and well illustrated • Author is a leading scholar of European literature and culture, whose earlier work has sold well and been respected by an academic as well as a general readership • Of the German original Frankfurter Rundschau said ‘Guthke entices the reader from chapter to chapter by means of his superior technique and brilliant style.’

Introduction: why this book? 1. Imagining the unimaginable: death personified; 2. The Middle Ages: the unfortunate Fall; 3. Renaissance and Baroque: the devil incarnate; 4. The Romantic age: ‘How wonderful is death’; 5. From decadence to postmodernity: the stranger at the masked ball; Epilogue: death immortalising life.

‘[Guthke] entices the reader from chapter to chapter by means of his superior technique and brilliant style.’ Frankfurter Rundschau

‘A rich array of examples of the personification of death in (mainly) European cultures. … An eclectic and erudite survey of images of death as a hunter, horseman, lover, bridegroom, or chess-player.’ Times Literary Supplement