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Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded The teacher can ask the students to analyse the poem with regard to its imagery, diction, syntax, and rhythm. Using this analysis, the students can arrive at an interpretation of the poem. She had thought the studio would keep itself; no dust upon the furniture of love. Half heresy, to wish the taps less vocal, the panes relieved of grime. A plate of pears, a piano with a Persian shawl, a cat 5 stalking the picturesque amusing mouse had risen at his urging. Not that at five each separate stair would writhe under the milkman’s tramp; that morning light so coldly would delineate the scraps 10 of last night’s cheese and three sepulchral bottles; that on the kitchen shelf among the saucers a pair of beetle-eyes would fix her own-- - envoy from some village in the moldings... Meanwhile, he, with a yawn, 15 sounded a dozen notes upon the keyboard, declared it out of tune, shrugged at the mirror, rubbed at his beard, went out for cigarettes; while she, jeered by the minor demons, pulled back the sheets and made the bed and found 20 a towel to dust the table-top, and let the coffee-pot boil over on the stove. By evening she was back in love again, though not so wholly but throughout the night she woke sometimes to feel the daylight coming 25 like a relentless milkman up the stairs. --Adrienne Rich (Mcmahan, Elizabeth, Susan X Day, Robert Funk(eds.). Literature and the Writing Process. V edition. U. S. A.: Prentice Hall, 1999, 614.) Imagery: The kind of imagery, a poet or a writer uses, depends on the age to which he/she belongs. The 20 th century is the age in which the two world wars broke out. It has faced uncertainties that accompany crises. People have faced anxieties and tensions which are reflected in the literature of the age. In this age, poetry has become more prosaic and so has its imagery. The present poem ‘Living in Sin’ is no exception to it. Adrienne Rich is a feminist criticpoet. In the present poem, she depicts the helpless condition of women in maledominated society where women are simply taken for granted. She throws light on the burning fact that still in the later half of the 20 th century, where everyone has the right to enjoy independence, women are used just either as stepping stones or as slaves to their male-counterparts, satisfying and fulfilling their needs. The poem creates a visual picture of the house of a lady. The important images in the poem are ‘the studio’, ‘the furniture of love’, ‘taps less vocal’ , ‘panes relived of grime’, ‘a piano’, ‘a cat’, ‘a mouse’, and the title itself ‘Living in Sin’. The sensuous imagery is reinforced by such phrases as ‘the studio’ and ‘furniture of love’. The studio seems to stand for the heart of the lady. She wishes that her heart and mind should be pure, sacred, untroubled by dirt. But all her expectations are futile and useless. She is totally helpless and has to submit herself to the man’s passion or lust, and, that too, against her wishes. The feeling of love has been reduced to furniture which is full of dust. Love for her is lifeless as her companion has forgotten that she also has her individual personality and identity. The studio is bound to gather dust. The lady desires that her studio should be calm, clean, and placid where even the taps should be less vocal and window-panes should be relieved of grime. However, the same thing happens with the panes as with the furniture. 86 PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1
Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded The panes, too, are bound to collect dirt, dewdrops, etc. They are symbolic as they indicate the life of the lady where everything is quite vague, unclear, and uncertain. The most important images are- ‘the mouse’ and ‘the cat’ and ‘their game’. The game symbolizes the kind of life that is going on in that ‘studio’ and the relationship that exists between the lady and the man. The cat stands for the male-companion and the mouse for the protagonist, that is, the lady. ‘A kind of hide and seek game’ is going on where a cat’s, ‘stalking’ remains successful in capturing the prey. The lady is as helpless as the mouse and, therefore, remains in the clutches of her unwanted but unavoidable male-companion of ‘night’. Thus, the first eight lines illustrate the relationship that exists between the lady and the man. In the beginning, she thinks positively. When the man asks her to ‘come’, she has the vision of ‘a plate of pears’, ‘a piano with a Persian shawl’. But what she faces in reality is the vision of writhing of stairs under the milkman’s tramp, early in the morning. In short, the things do not turn up according to her expectations. The cheese and sepulchral bottles indicate the repeated nightly actions of the companions. The next two lines, i.e. 14 and 15 give us the feeling that there is another woman in the kitchen. She has beetle-eyes and is watching the lady. Maybe, she is from ‘some black village’ and is envious of the lady. The man’s action of checking the piano- ‘whistling’ shows his boredom, carelessness and indifference to the lady’s feelings and emotions. He thinks that she is bound to satisfy him. With a yawn he wakes up, plays the piano and declares it out of tune. Specting his beard, he goes out for cigarettes. Here, the piano also seems to stand for the lady. The lady, for the man, is a plaything. And this piano, for him, is out of tune. ‘A fallen towel to dust the table top’ indicates the lady’s futile efforts to clean her studio and furniture of love. Meanwhile, with the return of the man, she comes to know of the reality and once again she is back in love though not wholly but all through the night, waiting for the milkman’s tramp that represents the monotony of our present, everyday life. Thus, the images used in the poem are not only complex but at times complicated also. They refer to the illicit relationship shared by the protagonist with the man. The very title of the poem is highly symbolic in nature. The man and the lady are living in sin as their relationship is based not on love but on mere physical attraction. The lady wishes to maintain secrecy in the relationship. That is why she wishes ‘the taps less vocal’. The poem can be divided into three parts. The first part symbolizes her optimism, as the lady expects ‘no dust upon the furniture of love’, ‘a plate of pears’ and ‘a piano with a Persian shawl’. The second part depicts the fact, that is, the man’s indifference to the lady’s emotional involvement in their relationship. The piano that he declares ‘out of tune’ actually throws light on their extramarital relationship which is out of harmony. The resultant effect is, naturally, of depression. The life, projected here, is essentially illogical, irrational and absurd. The last part of the poem indicates the no-escaperoute or the dead end of the lady’s journey. She has ‘a towel to dust the table-top’, and ‘by evening she was back in love again’. The lady has no alternative but to continue ‘living in sin’. It seems that the poem might have been written during the second half of the twentieth century, when under the impact of World Wars, people were less concerned about the moral values. In that sense, the poem throws light on the absurd, illogical, irrational life devoid of values in the aftermath of the World Wars. The lack seems to have continued till today. Diction: The epithets used have quite a grim connotation. For example, ‘the less vocal taps’, ‘furniture with dust’ a piano ‘out of tune’, ‘last night’s cheese’ ‘sepulchral bottles’. All of them have negative connotations. ‘The less vocal taps’ is an expression that indirectly brings to the notice the uselessness of female expectations in male-dominated society. ‘Furniture of love’ and ‘full of dust’ connote that women are always taken for granted even 87 PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1
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