Subtext You Didn't Know Was There

So, in my Classics class, I learned that the French expression "la petite mort" or (a little death) refers to an orgasm. Did you guys get this reference the first time you heard "Every Day A Little Death"?

Do you have any other experiences like this? I.e. Finding a new meaning to a song because you understand the subtext a bit more?

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Isn't subtext the unspoken truth and/or intent behind the words? I'm not sure Sondheim meant to imply "Every day an orgasm" in that particular song sung by those particular characters. It makes no sense. Or that they are implying that orgasms are little deaths. Even linking the infidelity of the husbands as equating orgasms to marital death is far too lateral in degrees to be considered subtext.

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My personal interpretation was that even though being a submissive wife slowly saps the life out of you, the "little death" keeps them in the marriage because it's so good ("He assumes I lose my reason and I do"). I just think the sexual connotations of the phrase adds an extra layer to the interpretation of the song don't you think?

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And of course with Anne being a virgin she certainly is not singing about the orgasms that are holding her marriage together when she joins in.

It's a play on words.

You can't have a little death. You're either dead or you're not. Like you're either pregnant or you're not.

Every day a little death is used as a metaphor

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At the very least, Charlotte is making a pun (since a woman of her class and era would almost certainly speak French) and it's doubtful Sondheim was unaware of it.

But it isn't likely Charlotte gets laid every day or is talking about her own orgasms (except for the part of the lyric where she talks about her eager response to Carl-Magnus on the rare occasions he reaches for her). Charlotte's orgasms are overwhelming and humiliating, but they are not daily occurrences.

It makes more sense that her husband's daily petit-morts (with his mistress) are slowly killing her. By this scene, Anne believes Frederick has committed adultery with Desiree or would like to, so it does make sense when she joins Charlotte in the use of the term. (ETA but if I were playing Anne, I'd probably assume the pun goes over her head.)

Updated On: 10/24/11 at 07:52 PM

I can't find the quote now, but I'm like 90% sure that Sondheim said he was unaware of the connection when he wrote the song and that it is a coincidence.

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But it isn't likely Charlotte gets laid every day or is talking about her own orgasms (except for the part of the lyric where she talks about her eager response to Carl-Magnus on the rare occasions he reaches for her).

Consider Carl-Magnus's line in his first scene with Charlotte: "A civilized man can tolerate his wife's infidelity, but when it comes to his mistress, a man becomes a tiger!" I always took that to mean that maybe Charlotte has/had a little something on the side, too.

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I'm with Gaveston- I always took it to be ironic, since the two ladies definitely aren't having any orgasms (that we know of) but their husbands are (at Anne thinks hers is) which has much to do with the slow death of their marriages. I never thought of Charlotte as getting any on the side, which would certainly be possible. Although I guess it would change the likelihood of the pun.

You think that this particular Sondheim lyric is "just coincidence" considering how meticulous he is with all of his other lyrics?

Yes.

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