Week 1, Question 1

In Sharon Olds's "True Love" a sort of modern spin is placed on traditional love. The same concept of love and overall devotion to an individual exists, however, the author places love and sex in the same category. She represents an explicit concept of love based on real life rather than the cliche existence of butterflies and pretty hearts. Olds talks about the consequences of sex, pain and exhaustion, in a sense that may otherwise be considered crude. Though she takes it and makes it a beautiful norm, "...I can hardly walk, I wobble through the granular shadowless air..." (579). You can understand the love that exists by the mere description of the characters life rather than a 'luvy-duvy' tribute to the mushy heart of a romanticist. The sex, children, and ultimate serenity in the theme represent the overall devotion the character has for the love that exists inside him.