Wendy Doniger is the Mircea Eliade Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Religions at the University of Chicago and the author of over 40 books, including On Hinduism and Redeeming the Kamasutra.

Doniger's exploration of the ring's symbolism as a manacle that binds a woman to a man is particularly insightful, as is her witty deconstruction of the modern myth of the diamond engagement ring that proves to have much more to do with savvy marketing than any enduring romantic tradition.

• Preface: My Family Jewels, and Other Tall Tales Introduction: The Signifying Ring Acknowledgments Chapter 1: Marriage Rings (and Adultery Rings) Chapter 2: The Ring Fished from the Ocean Chapter 3: Shakuntala and the Ring of MemoryChapter 4: Rings of Forgetfulness in Medieval European Romances Chapter 5: Siegfried's Ring and Wagner's RingChapter 6: Pregnant Riddles and Clever Wives Chapter 7: The Rape of the Clever Wife Chapter 8: The Affair of the Diamond Necklace Chapter 9: The Slut Assumption in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries Chapter 10: Are Diamonds A Woman's Best Friend? Chapter 11: Two Conclusions, on Money and Myth

Wendy Doniger is the Mircea Eliade Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Religions at the University of Chicago and the author of over 40 books, including On Hinduism and Redeeming the Kamasutra.

Doniger's exploration of the ring's symbolism as a manacle that binds a woman to a man is particularly insightful, as is her witty deconstruction of the modern myth of the diamond engagement ring that proves to have much more to do with savvy marketing than any enduring romantic tradition.

• Preface: My Family Jewels, and Other Tall Tales Introduction: The Signifying Ring Acknowledgments Chapter 1: Marriage Rings (and Adultery Rings) Chapter 2: The Ring Fished from the Ocean Chapter 3: Shakuntala and the Ring of MemoryChapter 4: Rings of Forgetfulness in Medieval European Romances Chapter 5: Siegfried's Ring and Wagner's RingChapter 6: Pregnant Riddles and Clever Wives Chapter 7: The Rape of the Clever Wife Chapter 8: The Affair of the Diamond Necklace Chapter 9: The Slut Assumption in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries Chapter 10: Are Diamonds A Woman's Best Friend? Chapter 11: Two Conclusions, on Money and Myth

Wendy Doniger is the Mircea Eliade Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Religions at the University of Chicago and the author of over 40 books, including On Hinduism and Redeeming the Kamasutra.

Doniger's exploration of the ring's symbolism as a manacle that binds a woman to a man is particularly insightful, as is her witty deconstruction of the modern myth of the diamond engagement ring that proves to have much more to do with savvy marketing than any enduring romantic tradition.

• Preface: My Family Jewels, and Other Tall Tales Introduction: The Signifying Ring Acknowledgments Chapter 1: Marriage Rings (and Adultery Rings) Chapter 2: The Ring Fished from the Ocean Chapter 3: Shakuntala and the Ring of MemoryChapter 4: Rings of Forgetfulness in Medieval European Romances Chapter 5: Siegfried's Ring and Wagner's RingChapter 6: Pregnant Riddles and Clever Wives Chapter 7: The Rape of the Clever Wife Chapter 8: The Affair of the Diamond Necklace Chapter 9: The Slut Assumption in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries Chapter 10: Are Diamonds A Woman's Best Friend? Chapter 11: Two Conclusions, on Money and Myth