ABSTRACT
In folklore, a woman's quest for her vanished husband or lover is the central motif in numerous tales named for these motifs, AT 425 A-P, The Search for the Vanished Husband. According to Degh, the story dramatizes the consummation of an arranged marriage and its consequences: The woman's domain is the home where she serves the husband and raises his sons; her procreative capability is her main worth. Girls are encouraged to overcome sexual anxieties and schooled to assume the burden of emotional labor in marriage: the wife's love will humanize her husband and restore rifts in their relationship. The metaphorical description of the women's role in maintaining the marital bond appears in the 'Cupid and Psyche' stories told by women as well as men, in which heroines endure long and difficult ordeals to restore their relationships with lost husbands. Taggart finds that older women use the stories to prepare younger women for the transition from courtship to marriage.
