Adrienne Rich - Living In Sin Flashcards
What does living in sin mean
A couple living together but aren’t married
Naive
She had imagined an ideal life however her current life is not living up to her expectations
“She had thought the studio would keep itself”
Alliteration
A perfect domestic scenario
“A plate of pears, a piano with a Persian shawl”
A clever selection of details
Her reality
“Not that at five each separate stair would writhe under the milkman’s tramp”
In sharp contrast, the man is indifferent to their loving situation while she is keenly aware He does not engage with her He is self absorbed He is a musician He is lazy and doesn’t pull his weight
“Meanwhile, he, with a yawn, sounded a dozen notes upon the keyboard, declared it out of tune, shrugged at the mirror, rubbed his beard, went out for cigarettes”
She criticises herself for carrying/out the duties of a dutiful housewife
When she moved our she had assumed jobs would be shared, maybe negative thoughts she pushed away are coming back to haunt her
“Jeered by minor demons”
She’s not cut out for thus lifestyle
The negative thoughts overflow and ruin her day
“Let the coffee-pot boil over on the stove”
Cyclical end
I’m the dark, she can forget about her suffering but dawn comes and sheds light on the flaws in her home and relationship. This is why she dreads it
Their relationship is deteriorating
Ominous
“Throughout the night, she woke sometimes to feel the daylight coming like a relentless milkman up the stairs”
Tone
Bleak Suffocating Despairing Frustration Rejection
