mrs sisyphus Flashcards
(17 cards)
“That’s him pushing the _____ up the hill, the ___.
“That’s him pushing the stone up the hill, the jerk.
Opens with irritation; she clearly finds the whole thing ridiculous.
“Jerk” = slang insult; sets up a comic tone from line one.
When he first started out, it just used to _____,
but now it _____ me, and him, the absolute _____.
When he first started out, it just used to irk,
but now it incenses me, and him, the absolute berk.
Irk = annoy; incense = infuriate.
“Berk” = British slang insult (mild, but funny).
Comic escalation of annoyance: it’s no longer funny; it’s full-blown rage.
I could do something _____ to him with a _____.
I could do something vicious to him with a dirk.
Dirk = dagger, especially a Scottish one.
Black humour: her anger turns violent — but still in a comically exaggerated way.
Think of the _____, he says
What use is a _____, I _____,
Think of the perks, he says
What use is a perk, I shriek,
when you haven’t the _____to pop open a _____
or go for so much as a _____ in the _____?
when you haven’t the time to pop open a cork
or go for so much as a walk in the park?
Contrast between his idealism and her everyday realism.
Comic bathos: lofty ambition (Sisyphus) versus ordinary pleasures (wine, walks).
“Shriek” intensifies her comic outrage.
He’s a _____.
He’s a dork.
Folks _____ from miles around just to _____.
Folks flock from miles around just to gawk.
introduces mockery/public spectacle: this labour isn’t noble; it’s a laughingstock.
They think it’s a _____,
a bit of a _____
They think it’s a quirk,
a bit of a lark
Comic tone: satirical frustration at how others trivialise real suffering.
He might as well _____
at the _____ -
He might as well bark
at the moon
Futile act, again invoking absurdism.
Echoes the pointlessness of Sisyphus’ task, made even more ridiculous in modern slang
that _____’ stone’s no sooner _____
than it’s rolling back
all the way _____.
that feckin’ stone’s no sooner up
than it’s rolling back
all the way down.
“Feckin’” = Irish dialect for “fucking” (softer, more comic).
Comic repetition and inevitability – the Sisyphean cycle is both pathetic and hilarious.
And what does he say?
Mustn’t _____-
_____ as a hawk,
lean as a _____
Mustn’t _____!
And what does he say?
Mustn’t shirk-
keen as a hawk,
lean as a shark
Mustn’t shirk!
speaker bitterly remarks on the Parody of motivational mantras.
Comic rhyme and repetition – mocking his relentless enthusiasm.
His slogans sound more and more absurd in the face of futility.
“But I lie _____ in the _____,”
“But I lie alone in the dark,”
Straightforward: she’s physically and emotionally isolated.
Signals a mood shift — from rage to sadness or resignation
“feeling like _____ wife did
when he _____ away at the Ark;”
“feeling like Noah’s wife did
when he hammered away at the Ark;”
Allusion to Noah’s Ark (Genesis) – Noah’s wife is a silent, unnamed background figure in the Bible.
She imagines herself like that — ignored, overshadowed, bored, while her partner pursues some obsessive, impractical project.
“My _____ reduced to a _____,”
“My voice reduced to a squawk,”
Squawk = harsh, complaining sound (like a bird).
She feels she’s become nagging, powerless, not taken seriously.
“my _____ to a twisted _____;”
“my smile to a twisted smirk;”
vilifified for speaking on suffering- satirises how we are conditioned to suffer in silence- nod to the british notion of ‘stiff upper lip’
Her natural joy is warped into something bitter — comic bitterness, like a dark caricature of herself.
“while, up on the deepening _____ of the _____,”
“while, up on the deepening murk of the hill,”
Murk = darkness, gloom. Suggests emotional and physical distance.
The setting becomes more ominous — mock-epic tone.
“he is giving one _____ per cent and _____ to his work.”
“he is giving one hundred per cent and more to his work.”
Cliché of motivational speak.
Ironic: giving “more than 100%” to a futile, laughable task.
Comic contrast between his intense effort and its complete pointlessness.
