“Shouldn’t you take that vow and break it the way you made it, in the open air?” (Winterson, 16).
This passage is written in the same beautiful and sarcastic prose as the remainder of the book, while mirroring the confusing descriptions given by the narrator. Honestly, the narrator said it themself that it seems obvious that they can’t be trusted, and this passage attests to this perfectly.
As the narrator says, breaking the vow of marriage “… the way you made it, in the open air” implies that the vows originally were pointless; they were made publicly, but broken carefully and privately. They should instead, they seem to say, be broken obviously, as they were obviously going to be broken anyway. In this passage, and specifically with this statement, they show their bitterness over the institution of marriage.
Where is that bitterness coming from? The narrators writing style uses many rhetorical questions in order to support their stories, such as the one used in reference to this passage. To me, this technique seems to be used to convince themself that their decision making is appropriate. The consistent questions associated with their actions, opinions and extramarital affairs seem to be used as a means to seek approval for actions they don’t necessarily condone themelf. This is why the narrator continues to confuse me; the narrator obviously tries to use passages like these to attack the marriages that they destroy through their participation in affairs, but the defensive rhetoric is interspersed with moments of beautiful and poetic language, and a yearning for a love worthy of the vows that she has a part in destroying. Directly before this passage, the narrator acknowledges that one affair deceived them and appeared as love, then follows this despondent example with a rather sarcastic attack against marriage and the love that creates it. To me, passages like these point to and underlying problem that has confused the narrator, both hating and wanting marriage and love.
Works Cited
Winterson, Jeanette. Written on the Body. New York: Vintage International, 1993. Print, 16.