In the poem "Snow White and the Seven Deadly Sins" (reprinted in Thomas R. Arp, Perrine's Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense, 7th ed . [Fort Worth: Harcourt, 1998] 854), author R. S. Gwynn presents the reader with an account of a woman's struggle to remain faithful to both her husband and God. The poem overtly alludes to the fairy tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. However, the Snow White in this poem lives anything but a fairytale existence. The first two stanzas of the poem discuss the woman's initial reactions to her relationship with her husband. The woman entered the marriage in faith and rarely questioned her husband's sinful nature, behaving like the "good Catholic girl" she had been raised to be. Yet, as time passes and her husband's abuse becomes more frequent and more destructive, doubts and confusion emerge in her mind and she begins to lose some faith and hope. The woman confesses her concerns to a priest who, instead of directing her to a place where she could get help, directs her to "the texts in Romans / And to the First Epistle of Peter, chapter III." These are biblical writings that preach that a woman should remain subordinate to her husband as a servant to her master, and that suffering for the sake of good is better than doing evil. This causes the woman to put her doubts aside and her duty towards her husband prevails. The sins of the woman's husband were quite small at first, however as the years pass his sins become more aligned with the seven deadly sins and the woman finds herself directly implicated in his sins. The sin of pride is the first sin mentioned in the poem. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay You may also be interested in The Evolution of Buddhist Philosophy in the West The woman's husband is extremely vain, and because of his vanity, she must keep herself beautified. This is evident due to the "stained lip prints" on the mirror. Gwynn's use of the word "ogled" personifies the mirror, implying that he is provoking the woman, forcing her to look at the sins of herself and her husband. The superficiality of man is further evident in his feelings of envy. He tells his wife to sew a designer label onto a generic t-shirt, just for appearance and image purposes. The man indulges in lustful activities and forces his wife to be a part of his distorted sexual fantasies. She doesn't protest, because once again she feels obligated to fulfill her duties as a wife. Furthermore, the man is guilty of Gluttony, Greed and Sloth, sins evident due to the empty alcohol bottles, the cards and chips on the table and the dirty clothes in the bathroom. Surrounded by the remnants of her husband's sins, which have also become hers, the woman reflects on each of them and becomes increasingly desperate as she realizes the gravity of what she has endured for so long. There is no salvation from these sins and the woman has completely lost hope. In the sixth and seventh stanzas, however, he finally realizes the need for true salvation. The inclusion of the lines "She knelt on the cold floor of the master bathroom like / If a postulant before the Pope" fully exemplifies the woman's growing desire for redemption. While cleaning the mirror, the woman notices how her marriage has made her look haggard and aged. This observation makes her truly recognize that she should not tolerate her husband's Wrath and that she really needs to be saved: ""How gray and pale she was, and how much clearer / Celebrating the bruise of Wrath before her eyes. "Remember: this is just one.