LIVES AND WIVES OF A GENIUS
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Golden Age of the Greeks, they change · places, with the result that
art carries the elan and points the direction of society." Sue's father
listened patiently, not quite sure whether he shouldn't be a little im–
pressed despite his misgivings about Stanley'S "having his feet on
the ground," as he would put it to his wife, until he had the oppor–
tunity to say. "Very interesting, but it's over my head. I wish my
father could have sent me to college." Then after an awkward
pause he said, "Tell me, Stanley. I don't want to sound crude. Sue
tells me I don't appreciate culture and say the wrong things. But
you're a man, Stanley, you'll understand. Tell me, can you make
money out of such ideas, lecturing or something?" Stanley winced
and made no effort to answer. But Sue shrieked, "Papa, this
is
humiliating. I told you a hundred times you can't talk that way.
I can't stand it. Come on, Stanley." She grasped his arm and pulled
him out of the house. On their way out, Sue heard her father
saying, "Mama, maybe I'm old-fashioned, I don't understand. I
don't like my daughter going with bums. In the old days bums
were just bums, now they're smart and talk like professors." They
took the subway back to Manhattan, huddled up inside them–
selves like two refugees on a slow, dreary journey, saying nothing.
Sue spent the night at Stanley's tiny and disorderly furnished room.
Sue took charge of everything: the license, the witnesses, the
Wasserman, and the Woolworth ring. Stanley was cooperative, but
he did not seem enthusiastic about the marriage itself, at least he
did not talk about it. What excited him and what he talked about
incessantly was the nature of the preparations, which he regarded
as a wonderful example of modern ritual, made up of just such
small rituals of everyday life and connected with the great rituals
of life and death. But at no time did his theories interfere with any
of the practical tasks; on the contrary, they always served as ration–
alizations of what had to be done, and everything went off smoothly.
After their marriage, Sue gave herself to the task of keeping
the room tidy and to the supervision of Stanley's personal habits.
She cleaned and rearranged things incessantly, shopped for endless
knickknacks, bought new clothes for Stanley and put the old ones
in shape. Stanley was indulgent of Sue's passionate householding,
mainly out of indifference, but he did not permit it to disrupt his
regular occupation of talking, thinking, and keeping up with the
latest cultural events.
