Mind the Gap

Abstract

Monogamy and polygamy are often considered to be a binary pair. Yet this binary is only possible under very particular conditions. This essay explores those conditions which are elided in order to sustain the binary through analyses of cases from across Christian history. In doing so, we are able to see places were monogamy and polygamy blur and create what I term polygamous monogamy. In particular I pay attention to the way time — which is impacted by other elements from Christianity such as divorce, remarriage, and the afterlife — factors into numbering marriages.