Snow White and the Seven Deadly Sins, a poem by R.S. [Fort Worth: Harcourt, 1998] 854), author R.S. Gwynn’s account tells of the struggle a wife has to maintain her loyalty to God as well as her husband. This poem alludes directly to Snow White’s fairy tale with the Seven Dwarfs. Snow White of this poem does not live a fairytale. The poem’s first two stanzas describe the woman’s initial reaction to her marriage. She began her marriage with faith and never questioned the sinful nature of her husband. She begins to question her faith as her husband’s abusive behavior becomes more severe and destructive. She confesses to the priest her worries, and instead of telling her where she can get help, he tells her about “texts found in Romans/and Peter’s First Epistle – chapter III”. This is Biblical teachings which preach that women should remain under the authority of their husbands as servants to their masters, and that doing good over evil is preferable. It is because of this that the woman puts her doubts to one side and does what she must to please her husband. As the years go by, the sins of her husband become bigger and more in line with the Seven Deadly Sins. The woman is now directly implicated in these sins. The poem starts with Pride. She must maintain her beauty because the woman’s husband has a lot of vanity. The “smeared lips” on the mirror make it clear. Gwynn personifies the reflection by using the word “ogled”. This implies that the mirror taunts the woman and forces her to see her own sins as well as those of her spouse. Envy shows the superficiality in the man’s feelings. For the sake of image and appearance, he tells his spouse to sew designer labels into a generic t-shirt. The man is a lustful person and makes his wife participate in his sexual fantasies. She does nothing because, yet again, it is her duty as a woman to carry out the duties she has been given. He is also guilty of Gluttony (abundance), Sloth (sloth), and Avarice. This can be seen by the dirty towels, cards, chips, and empty alcohol bottles on the dining table. As she is surrounded with the remnants of the sins that her husband has committed, she reflects and becomes increasingly desperate. The woman is completely dejected and has lost all hope. The woman finally comes to realize the importance of true salvation in the sixth stanza and the seventh. She knelt on the cold bathroom floor / As if a petitioner in front of the Pope. This line perfectly demonstrates the woman’s growing desire for redemption. The woman is shocked to see how old and haggard she looks as she cleans her mirror. After noticing this, she realizes how she is being treated by her husband’s Wrath. She needs to be rescued.
The woman compares her to Snow White and makes a reference to the poisoned apple that killed the princess. She believes that her marriage is slowly killing her. She uses her thumb to X out the image on the wall mirror, as if attempting to delete the horrific picture in front of her. This is the point where the magical mirror in Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs could not possibly call the woman described in the poem ‘the most beautiful of them’. Ho-hum. It’s home after work. We are on our way. The line “Who, spotting the distressed damsel beckoned/ for her to ride (what else?)” is a reference to the man who spotted her. This man’s “snow-white horse” is a clear indication that he believes he has the power to end her pain. She hesitates and falls almost back into his’safety,’ the man with whom she had sought refuge for so many years. The woman realizes her husband is not the true savior. She flees the home to the convent, where she will find the salvation she seeks in her faith. She is in conflict when she can’t reconcile both. The woman runs to her husband as the good-hearted wife, but only finds true salvation as a nun.
