The Decisive Moment

A poem inspired by the writing style of Frank O'Hara

I walk onto the uptown local 6 at 59th
and it hits me
the smell of bacteria or fungus
but more like
the smell of my elementary school cafeteria
after the lunch ladies ran their smelly rags over crumb filled tables
What's this? A worn, little brown dog falls before me
a hairy, gray arm reaches out, picks it up, and attempts to hand it back to its rightful owner
a small, dark haired girl
sitting upon a comfortable throne as she stares
an empty stare
Why didn't I extend my hand to save the sacred toy from the grime-filled floor?
Maybe it was my unnatural hatred
of strollers in train cars
I was unaware
But perhaps my face twisted
and my eyebrows
came together as my mouth turned down
What a picture that would have made!
Yes, I could see Henri Cartier-Bresson now
poised tactfully somewhere in that train car
with his 35mm Leica
The right place, the right time
Sweet girl, sweet doggy, sweet stranger,
and my scowl contradicting it all
Click!
There it is
The Decisive Moment

Satire and Marriage

In this article I will discuss “Notes on Love and Marriage: Perspectives from Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest”, an analysis by Michael Vance on Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. The analysis includes several different perspectives on the play’s satirical criticism of 19^th century society and its views on marriage.

One point of interest in Vance’s analysis on The Importance of Being Earnest is the manner in which the characters of the play choose their marriage partners. Their decisions reflect the ideology of the 19^th century upper class which Oscar Wilde stated was “. . . that we should treat all the trivial things of life seriously, and all the serious things of life with sincere and studied triviality" (qtd. in Vance). Gwendolyn and Cecily make a serious decision to accept the proposals of Jack and Algernon, respectively, based solely on the fact that both men had falsely claimed their names were Ernest. Both women could not imagine being married to one who is not named Ernest and feel pity for any woman who is not married to an Ernest. One would think that there are more important details required in order to make such a life changing decision but for these 19^th century women, an honest name that “produces vibrations” is satisfactory. The seriousness of marriage is further diminished as the Chausible, a celebate man of religion, proposes to Miss Prism toward the end of the play. They had known each other for several years therefore he had countless opportunities to propose to her yet only chooses to do so when two other marriages have been declared. It seemed to be less an action of love and more an action of “monkey see, monkey do”. What is even more disappointing is the fact the among the three couples, the relationship between the Chausible and Miss Prism appears to be the most substantial and honest but due to poor timing, it seems as though the Chausible is merely “following the crowd”.

Vance’s analysis is effective in pointing out the societal flaws Oscar Wilde presents in his play and the effect satire has in making these flaws apparent to the reader. The comical manner in which 19^th century marriage ideals are presented in the play serves to exaggerate the major points and succeeds in showing the reader just how absurd those ideals are.

Vance, Michael. “Notes on Love and Marriage: Perspectives from Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest”. May 2000. Web. 4 July 2012. <http://kamus3.homestead.com/wilde.html>