Another last gasp for the Shakespearean references on the series. The
bride-to-be may have offed herself in this '99 episode, or been mugged
and then fell, or was murdered. The possible clue may be when, or if,
her missing engagement ring ever shows up.
Sister reveals that bride was torn between choice of marrying man and
going to law school -- a promise of which she's discouraged from backing
out -- and that of doing what she wants and pursuing art career. The
ring, once again, represents the woman as a lack of permission to speak
authoritatively.
Ironically, idiot in movie theatre was giving away endings. "Do or die"
lyric quoted, in title, from movie Casablanca, parallels the "To be or
not to be" line in Hamlet, and conflicting opinions about suicide.
Bride's believed suicide, the two halves collapsing into the vaccum of
her nothingness, causes everything else around her to move into the
empty space and move story toward interest in her problem.
Groom (D Futterman), who doesn't know what bride's sister said, is still
looking for ring at end of episode. The silencing of the woman seems to
correspond to man's inability to know what woman can tell him. F----ne
goes drinking after breaking date because he wants to be alone; Stivers
tells him communication goes both ways and maybe she needed to talk.
Then clueless F brings carryout to her when she's working late; we know,
because she talks to Bayliss, that she's concerned about her weight.
Physical giving is 'way off the beam.
Munch says he can't tell if the subject in bride's painting is man or
woman, probably an allusion to bride's choice of either having a voice
or succumbing to a man. The "law school" choice calls to mind Portia in
Merchant of Venice, who poses as male lawyer, temporarily conning
Bassanio into returning his ring to torment him. Irony in this TV
episode is that if bride had found masculine voice, she would have
succeeded in being functional as, to her satisfaction, a woman.
Of course rings represent a lot of things...
Bob A
"Aside from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?"
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