Adrienne Rich "Living in Sin"
...nother are: the man has a very superficial view of the world and the woman has a deeper meaning understanding of things. Another way Rich uses language to create environment is her use of consonance. “A plate of pears, the piano with a Persian shawl…” (line 5). The repetitiveness of the “p” sound makes the reader stop and emphasize each sound. The allusion this consonance creates is stress; the repetitiveness of p is not soothing or relaxing, it is stressful. Another time that Rich uses consonance is “separate stair” (line 8), here Rich again illustrates the stress with the repeat “s” sound. Also the “s” sound alludes to the snake which is usually sneaky and silent. Sneaky and silent is exactly how this woman is personified in this poem. Deeper meaning in the poem is created by Rich’s use of symbolism. Adrienne Rich does not come out and say exactly what she means because that would contrast with what the poem is about. “Sepulchral bottles…” (line 11) could give readers some difficulty. In the dictionary the word sepulchral is defined as, “of or relating to burial...” (dictionary.com). Rich uses this word instead of burial because it has many more connotations. Burial in this sense would indicate alcohol. Many people use alcohol to ‘bury’ feelings they do not want to feel. This is a brilliant example of how language can construe various meanings. Later on in the poem Rich writes, “…pulled back the sheets and made the bed and found a towel to dust the table-top, and let the coffee-pot boil over…” (line 20). This passage indicates the woman’s animosity toward the conformity society has on her. She awakes and makes the bed and dust; meanwhile she is letting the coffee overflow. The overflowing coffee symbolizes how she is not happy in her current position. In the last four lines of the poem Rich expresses even more discontentment with the woman’s life; “…though not so wholly but throughout the night…” (line 25). This excerpt shows the decay met of the relationship this woman has. Day in and day out her relationship is deteriorating. All of these literary techniques used by Adrienne Rich accomplish the task of creating an environment flowered with emotion. Numerous authors use these methods to insinuate to the reader what feeling they are trying to convey; and in “Living in Sin” the feeling is discontentment. The portrait of the woman’s miserable live is contrasted with the man’s. During the morning routine the man routinely goes “out for cigarettes” (line 18). Instead of dwelling over the problems in the house he simply complains and leaves. Thus, leaving the woman to take care of the household problems, which are emotional and physical. The woman needs emotional support from him and physical support for taking care of normal household chores. She knows that these problems will not take care of themselves and needs his support. It is clear that the man is the cause of the problems in her life; yet she still quietly tends to her ‘duties’ (as seen ...