Sex Without Love by Sharon Olds

Sex Without Love by Sharon Olds

'Sex Without Love,' by Sharon Olds passionately described the author's disgust for casual sex in which she vividly animates the immorality of lustful sex through the variety of her language. The sarcasm used in this selection can easily be misunderstood and quite confusing if the words and lines are not analyzed with specific construction. Olds' clever use of imagery and frequent uses of similes, to make the reader imagine actual events, makes this poem come to life. For example, Olds describes making love as 'Beautiful as dancers.' (Line #2) in this line, she questions how one can do such a beautiful act with a person whom one is not in love with. Olds also describes sex as 'gliding over each other like ice skaters over the ice.' While these lines may sound enticing, one may have to read in between the lines to determine that she is imaging sex as a performance. (Line #3, #4) By imagining an ice skating performance one can quickly conclude that each ice skater is performing for a number of judges and an audience to attain an award. Olds uses thi...