The foundational story of Sisyphus (ancient greek myth):
Sisyphus was the king of Corinth
He and wanted to cheat death
The gods punished him
He was sent to roll a huge boulder endlessly up on a hill/ roll it up on the hill and whenever he reaches the top the rock would roll back down, so he has to start again
Mrs Sisyphus is very annoyed, since her husband is obsessed with his work, which about she thinks it is meaningless, unuseful (he does not think it the same way)
Sisyphus is really committed to his work
At the beginning of their relationship the things were ok for her, but now, she is very annoyed
She also has no fame, no nothing, just lives in the shadow of her husband who works unstoppably
The poem addresses the inequality between men and women both in relationships and the area of work
Mrs Sisyphus’s name does not even mentioned, just like the female character’s names in the mast verse’s allusion -> they are under the name of their husbands
She is afraid that the husband’s work is going to destroy their relationship
He is ignorant about what she wants, and does not have time for her
The ill of modern society -> work work work
The poem is questioning the repetition of life
A possible interpretation also contains that women are not part of the work life
Rhymes: repetition, the ‘cycle’
Almost a form of doggevel, mostly because of the rhymes
The poem is also very serious: due the modern take of the story