Sex Without Love by Sharon Olds Essay

This poem is not strictly about a man who is trying to get a woman to have premarital sex with him. I think this work was more about the use of religious imagery in regards to a sexual act. Starting in the second stanza, we see our first religious imagery and diction. The first line,

The use of simile appears again with "Or fester like a sore" (a dream linked to a sore); "And they run?" (this is a metaphor because dreams don't run it also appears to be personification, making a dream into

In this time period, there are many different disorders and illnesses that go unnoticed, and unknown. Society creates stereotypes about illnesses such as obsessive compulsive disorder, clinical Depression, and many other mental afflictions. Another that seems to remain controversial and misunderstood is sexual compulsive behaviors. Many see it as an excuse to act a certain way, or think a certain way; in reality it is a serious mental disorder that can cause devastating effects on the people that are consumed by them and the people who are around them. Something that is however, known about sexual compulsive behaviors is that there are certain things that can emotionally damage a person and cause them to have these behaviors. The three

Lust is having a self-indulgent sexual desire. Susan Minot portrayed the mind of a promiscuous high school female perfectly. Lust is powerful and seductive, but it's inherently selfish and opposed to love. For many girls who are having sex with different boys they can identify with the desire to be needed. The characters in "Lust" are written in a way to highlight the dysfunction and disconnection of everyone involved. The narrator herself is nameless and faceless, making the reader believe that she has already somehow disappeared, just as the men in her life have made her disappear after having sex. Similarly, the men are listed in a brief and are identified only by their sexual acts or by other, easily objectified characteristics. What

In his poem, Flames and Dangling Wire, the first line immediately sets the scene allowing us to have a sense of where we are. The use of a simile in “The smoke of different fires in a row, like fingers spread and dragged to smudge” implies the filthiness of the tip and the smoke rising from the fires. This also causes the air to

This creative use of allegory by Williams significantly supports the theme of sexual intimacy and desires of the play due to its impactful sequence of literal events connoting the protagonist’s life. (322)

"They turn casually to look at you, distracted, and get a mild distracted surprise, you're gone. Their blank look tells you that the girl they were fucking is not there anymore. You seem to have disappeared.(pg.263)" In Minot's story Lust you are play by play given the sequential events of a fifteen year old girls sex life. As portrayed by her thoughts after sex in this passage the girl is overly casual about the act of sex and years ahead of her time in her awareness of her actions. Minot's unique way of revealing to the reader the wild excursions done by this young promiscuous adolescent proves that she devalues the sacred act of sex. Furthermore, the manner in which the author illustrates to the reader these acts symbolizes the

Lack of emotional intimacy in sex leads to suppression of feelings, and this can affect one’s ability to create an attachment, worst still, feelings of awkwardness crop. This is evident as Olds puts it in (line 7), “wet as children at birth whose mothers are going to give them away.” Mother giving away her child is a metaphor depicting dangers of unwanted pregnancies as a result of casual sex. The image of undesired childbirth illuminates negligence and irresponsibility since the lover 's intention was not bearing children. This unplanned procreation highlights the fallacies of sex without love.

Sex Without Love has a theme of how a person can not understand how someone can have sexual relationships without being in love. In this poem Olds is puzzled to how and why a person can share such passion and intimacy with another when there is no love or special bond that holds the two together. Although there is no kind of emotional connection she is not empathetic of the loveless physical connection that is shared between the two beings as they engage in sexual contact. Olds is appalled with casual sex and believes that people misinterpret "I love you" to simply just "loving sex". She feels if there is no love shared that the sex is only a selfish act between two.

It was only three days after being born that I was flown to my new family in Illinois. If I had not been for a one woman’s unselfish decision, I would not be writing the words on this page right now. Abortion is an ethically wrong decision and option for a parent. It is illegal to take the life of another human being; by choosing to have an abortion, legally a parent is not willingly killing a human life. However, this choice is still seen as a murder to most people. Women should be forced to place their children up for adoption instead of a choice have an abortion.

In contrast to keeping love preserved, Olds' compares people who have sex without love as beautiful ice skaters (Line 3). This line has a much deeper meaning because as the first line states, "How do they

The use of simile in the poem "Sex without love" gives us an insight as to why the speaker thinks sex without love is meaningless. In lines 4-8, the speaker says, "fingers hooked / inside each other's bodies, faces / red as steak, wine, wet as the / children at birth whose mothers are going to / give them away. The speaker is comparing the two lovers to nothing but a piece of meat. The comparison is more or less showing us how sex without love really feels. The quote is also saying that sex without love is emotionless and only requires the partner's presence. Towards the end of the quote, the speaker is comparing having sex with no love to a mother that has just given birth and chosen to give her baby up. Sharon Olds uses another simile later

Sharon Olds’ poem “Sex Without Love” wonders at the ability for two people to have sex and not involve emotions or pretenses of love. The poem argues that it is better to have sex without love under the premise that love is a false savior for people, and everyone is all alone anyhow. In other words, the claim is that personal interactions do not serve a purpose other than being a distraction, and they will inevitably end. However, the notion that attachment and love are false hopes for people and each person is all alone does not account for the inevitability of human interactions and the underlying importance of relationships. While the poem does not give its definition of being alone, complete isolation is virtually impossible and leads

The choice between adoption and abortion changes millions of lives every day. Some advocates of abortion feel if the mother of the child thinks that she will not be a good parent or thinks she will harm the child, that she has the right to abort the child. Abortion is a life changing decision and has the reputation of being an easy way out of an unwanted pregnancy. Adoption, on the other hand, is one way for a woman who is not prepared to be a parent to provide her child the best life possible without being involved in the child’s life. According to national estimates, one million children in the United States live with adoptive parents and from 2% to 4% of American families include an adopted

The poem “Sex Without Love” written by Sharon Olds is a poem about how people who do not love each other still manage to have sex. She begins with the question many people ask, “How do they do it, the ones who make love without love?”, which immediately gets readers intrigued and to contemplate the question at hand. The author’s use of imagery allows the reader to feel like he/she is actually experiencing the contemplation that Olds is experiencing. Many people argue that sex without love is not morally correct and that it can often give off a negative reputation for many people. However, some people believe the opposite and think that no prior connection is required to have sex. Sex is a very interesting topic because it stirs up many different conversations and opinions. According to Sharon Olds poem, people should have meaningful sex and connections with other humans rather than empty, careless relationships. Most people today prefer having the easy, casual relationship that does not require the extra work entailed in a loving relationship. Olds is able to use imagery, religion and metaphors to express her dislike towards loveless sex.