that the reader is ‘‘given no explanation for why
the wreck occurred. Nor is there any account of
the swimmer’s return, the use to which she puts
this new information.’’ For Cheri Colby Lang-
dell, author ofAdrienne Rich: The Moment of
Change, the poem ‘‘embodies a true epic quest,
with hero, mission, myth, epic locale.’’ Langdell
notes the originality of the poet’s ‘‘focus on
androgyny’’ and describes the epic quest as a
journey that ‘‘becomes both a spiritual quest
and a recollection of alienated parts of the
hero’s—or rather heroine’s—self, a reconcilia-
tion or restitution of what is lost.’’
CRITICISMBryan Aubrey
Aubrey holds a PhD in English. In this essay on
‘‘Diving into the Wreck,’’ he discusses the images
of women that were presented in American culture
during the 1950s and 1960s and how such stereo-
types impacted the poem.
No reader of Adrienne Rich’s ‘‘Diving into
the Wreck’’ will be left in any doubt about the
difficulty of the underwater journey that the
speaker undertakes. Simply to make the meta-
phorical dive itself is an act of courage, a refusal
to accept the status quo, an affirmation of the
duty of the individual to investigate for herself
what is true and what is false, even if society as a
whole seems satisfied with the version of truth
that it has decided upon. Throughout the poem
the perilous nature of the journey is emphasized;
it involves a completely different way of being in
the world, a different way of moving, a different
way even of breathing, and certainly a different
way of examining evidence. Also emphasized is
the isolation of the speaker. There is no support
along the way, no advisors or guides to help the
underwater traveler. She is on her own. This is a
journey away from the group mind, which is
easily satisfied with lazy generalizations, in the
direction of the power of the individual to dis-
cern the real nature of things for herself, if she
can keep her nerve and trust the truths she
uncovers.
The poem might be considered pessimistic.
After all, the speaker descends in search of a
wreck. The wreck might refer to the inner, true
lives of all women, which have been undervalued
and suppressed to the point where they barely
exist anymore, worn away by the constant pres-
sure from a male-dominated society that is not
interested in acknowledging the reality of wom-
en’s selves. The wreck is far gone and seems
unsalvageable, and the speaker proposes no
plan of rescue. Can any woman, given this
wreckage, still find the lost things of value deep
within herself? And, bearing in mind that the
speaker is depicted at the end of stanza 8 as
being androgynous—both male and female—
can men also somehow liberate themselves
from this same wreck? Just as women have
been presented with a false image of themselves,
so men have accepted a view of their own roles
that is equally limiting.
Set against the rather pessimistic feelings
generated by the poem is the striking, twice-men-
tioned image of the female face carved on the
prow of the ship, which appears to have survived
intact. The eyes are open and look up to the sun,
an image that suggests the tenacity and will to
survive of women in general, which seems to beScuba diver moving toward shipwreck on seabed,
Bermuda(Stephen Frink / Digital Vision /Getty Images)
Diving into the Wreck