The Cracked Looking Glass by Katherine Ann Porter
"The Cracked Looking Glass" by Katherine Anne Porter tells the story of Rosaleen, a spirited Irish woman married to the much older Dennis, living in rural Connecticut. Despite being faithful to her husband, Rosaleen yearns for more excitement and youthful company, often embellishing her stories and creating romantic illusions to escape the mundane reality of her life.
Her tendency to romanticize and her need for social interaction lead her neighbors to misjudge her, suspecting her of infidelity. Rosaleen herself struggles with the contrast between her inner world of dreams and the often disappointing reality. She constantly anticipates "something great" happening, a dream that rarely materializes.
The cracked looking-glass in their home serves as a central symbol, representing Rosaleen's distorted perception of herself and her life, the imperfections of love, and the difficulty of truly seeing reality.
Driven by a dream of visiting her ill sister Honora in Boston, Rosaleen embarks on a journey seeking a change. However, her idealized vision of Boston and a chance encounter there lead to disillusionment. She returns home to Dennis, and in their shared quiet life, they find a sense of contentment despite the unfulfilled dreams and the cracked reflections of their past. The story ultimately explores themes of illusion versus reality, the complexities of marriage, the disappointments of aging, and the possibility of finding peace in accepting imperfect love and life as it is.
As we get older, especially at mid age in our 50s it is common for people to experience a period of disillusionment that, even if we have fulfilled the dreams of late adolescence and early 20s they don’t feel the satisfaction and joy they had expected. They still don’t feel happy and wonder about the paths not taken and the things missed out on. This disillusionment often precipitates a depression or sometimes acting out in ways harmful to self and others like having an affair, abruptly quitting a job, spending large amounts of money recklessly, and taking up mood altering substances and behaviors compulsively. This short story, The Cracked Looking Glass appears in the The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter.
Questions:
Have you passed through a midlife crisis or observed others doing so? If so, what happened?
What factors contribute to some people never being happy no matter what life brings them?
How do you think the disillusionment of mid life can best be handled?
If you’d like my copy of the Penguin Modern version of the Cracked Looking Glass free of charge send me the address you want the book sent to at davidgmarkham@gmail.com.