Living in Sin by Adrienne Rich
In the Living in Sin, Adrienne explores the life of a woman who began a relationship with a romantic conception all through their life. However, the fantasy was biased as the daily grind and responsibility the idealism of having steady romance was blurred. In the poem, Adrienne provides an overview of how the fantasy of night contrasts with the daily realities of the living. The reality of life has a way of hewing fantasies from an experience point of view. In the poem, Adrienne has explored the theme of romance, which reveals the real-life situation. Besides, the poem has utilized symbolism and imagery to deliver the intended message by the poet.
Romance is exhibited by the woman presented in the poem as she would fall in love again with her husband regardless of how their love was turning into misery. The couple is caught up by the idea of a perfect romance. In the course of the time, the woman loses the idealism although she doesn’t break up with her husband. “by evening she was back in love again, though not wholly but throughout the night she woke up to feel the daylight coming” (23-25). The romance that they had since the first day they met was fading day after day. The fantasy of a good life was less in each night the daylight approached.
The poem has vividly used imagery to depict the woman’s idealism and the reality of the life she ended up in. The woman expected a perfect life revealed in lines 4 and 5. “a plate of pears…, a piano with a Persian Shawl.” These items reflect an ideal life that the woman was expecting after she was promised by the man she fell in love with. However, Adrienne uses imagery to help to picture how the situation was turning. “from a black village in the moldings” (14) and “last night cheese and blank, sepulchral bottles” (11) represent a foul environment where the idealism of the woman cannot be fulfilled.
Adrienne utilized symbolism in the poem, such as night, day, and dust. The ‘night’ symbolizes the romance in sly and despair. Usually, night veils what we do not wish or want to see and pretend that everything is perfect. On the other hand, the day symbolizes fear in life as it uncovers the flaws and inconsistencies that are present. The dust symbolized love and absence of living as during the night, dust cannot be seen, and therefore love is present at night and fades during the day as the dust is visible during the day.
The idea of romance in the day-to-day life is manifested in the poem as most people get love with a view of a perfect life afterward, which sometimes turns into a nightmare. According to the woman, she was undergoing a cyclical of love. Sometimes she was in love, and other times she was cold. The theme of love and romance undermined by fear. Fear has the power to tear apart the love.