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Couples and coupling have inspired writers for centuries, yet there are few books which consider, in its own right, the associated institution of marriage. In her exploration of both that association and the distinction between coupling and marriage, Devorah Baum's On Marriage thus manages to create a niche for itself. Her starting points are to question why, from childhood, she assumed she would marry, and why, for centuries, the desire to commit to such a relationship has proved so enduring. When fewer couples are committing to marriage, this is a timely moment to consider the nature of this particular “tie that binds”.
Baum, who teaches critical theory in her role as associate professor of English literature at the University of Southampton, has created a rich weave of the many presentations of marriage—in philosophy and psychoanalysis, literature and poetry, theatre and film, feminism and politics. Those who are familiar with her writing will already have met her in Feeling Jewish (2017) and The Jewish Joke (2023). They may also recognise her as a filmmaker through the films The New Man and Husband , which she co-directed with her husband, the film director Josh Appignanesi. All of these—perhaps the films in particular—show the breadth of her thinking, as well as her disarming candour about herself and her relationships. The latter comes across as offered in the service of honest enquiry, rather than out of a narcissistic need for self-publicity. On Marriage would seem to fit with a psychological developmental trajectory, a personal, as well as an academic, meaning-seeking journey.
Baum's research has evidently involved a number of conversations. One, with her mother, recalls her mother's work from their family home as a marriage counsellor. Counselling couples had taught her that problems with communication, which also compounded sexual difficulties, lie at the heart of marital discord. I am curious about the possible impact there might have been on other family