ABSTRACT
Second, in contrast to other industries whose services may only incidentally be interpreted in the dramaturgical manner, undertakers actually aspire to theatrical presentation. In attempting to protect customers from the horrors of mortality, they suspend reality, a basic tenet of theater. In this way, and with unwitting collusion, a more palatable version of death is provided which shifts from stark, cold permanence to a more gentle and temporary slumber. In this respect, the drama of the funeral operates as a device for making the unacceptable tolerable. For Duvignaud, who considers the distinction between society and the theater, death rituals are
One consequence of this ritual (responsible for sparking my initial observation) is its visibility. In British society where the advertisement of mortuary services is viewed with distaste, dramatic funerals provide businesses with a rare opportunity to promulgate their office. In this instance funeral directors' motives are more akin to the theater than to reality where,
"Without these customs," one undertaker observed, "it's like burying a dog in the ground." For a group who may still be heard to refer to themselves as "the last of the great showmen," this is fortuitous indeed. If the requirements for ritual disappear entirely in our fast-paced, high-tech, urban societies, undertakers and their dramatic personae will become things of the past.
