ENGL 4310

I know that we talked about Porter getting married and divorced the other day, so I was interested in reading what she had to say about the matter of marriage. The first letter related to marriage in the index is when she almost got married to someone and then decided against it. She says, "I know now I'll never marry him nor anybody else unless I suddenly go mad" (76). She talks about how she was in such a "hellish gloom" (77) when she was going to marry him, and was automatically happier when she broke it off.

I love how she says that she will never get married because three years later she is writing about how she is "cheerfully, comfortably, and I hope permanently married" (119). In a later letter she writes about how important it is to be "really" married (124). She is obviously happy being married in this letter because she talks about how marriage changes a person and makes them better. Love is not blind, she claims, but instead "it is appallingly clear-sighted" (125).

I know that this is not the "personal" response time, but I can't help but relate to the lives of these authors. I too experienced the I'll-never-get-married-but-then-shortly-after-get-married syndrome. it makes me sad to know that this marriage she is so happy about eventually ends, though I have yet to read about that. Perhaps that will be my next journey into her life.

I also wonder how her view on marriage in her letters reflects her writing. I think that "Rope" reflects her view of marriage a little bit, but I cannot think of any others at the moment (though I know there has to be another, at least). Can anyone else think of any of her stories that deal with marriage? I think I should also look into O'Connor's view of marriage, but her index is harder to navigate. It would be interesting nonetheless to see how the two compare and how their views are reflected in their stories. Has anyone else seen anything along these lines that they could refer me to?