To Say Yes or to Say No, That is the Question

     My favorite poem this year would have to be Elisavietta Richie's "Sorting Laundry." The reason this poem is my favorite is because it is one of the few that I could completely understand. I think the message is very clear that the speaker is contemplating marriage. I liked that because it allowed me to really explore my writing in my poetry paper without worrying whether or not my interpretation of the poem was correct or not. Although this poem is very serious and genuine compared to the play, "The Importance of Being Earnest," I feel there is some connection there. I could imagine Cecily writing a poem like this in her diary, expressing the happiness and joy Ernest brings her. One of my favorite lines that Cecily says is “I like his hair so much. I must enter his proposal in my diary” (Wilde 34). This affectionate tone parallels Richie’s admiring tone toward her loved one, but in a less creepy way of course. I could also imagine Algernon belittling this poem like no other. The woman in Richie’s poem feels a life without a spouse would be entirely lonely and empty. Algernon, on the other hand, seems much more disdainful of marriage: “No married man is ever attractive except to his wife” (Wilde 26). There is a clear theme of bitterness towards marriage in the poem. Another instance of this occurs when Lane remarks, “I have only been married once. That was in consequence of a misunderstanding between myself and a young person” (Wilde 1). It is interesting to me that my favorite poem and favorite novel we read this year have such differing views on marriage. I wonder whether I will take Richie’s view on marriage or the socialites of the play in the future…