Frances Welty's former marriage with Sol

Frances Welty’s former marriage to Sol remains present in her memories as a mixture of literary criticism, physical affection, domestic comedy, and post-divorce resentment. The relationship is over, but its small details still shape how Frances thinks about intimacy, writing, and what it means to know another person.

Literary Criticism and Intimacy

Sol objected to the adjectives and adverbs Frances scattered through her novels, and he would murmur Mark Twain’s advice to kill an adjective while reading her manuscripts. Frances remembers this criticism not simply as a judgment of her writing but as one part of a familiar private life: the teasing had become an established feature of their marriage.

Her recollection of Sol also turns to a shared bedroom joke. She pictures him comically throwing cushions away from behind her head while she giggled. The memory joins literary disagreement to ease and affection; for Frances, its sexual tenderness counts as a point in favor of her first husband, even after the marriage has ended.

Strangers, Familiarity, and Divorce

Frances recalls Sol once asking why she was so interested in strangers. She had struggled to explain that their appeal lay in their strangeness—in what remained unknown. Her thought that people are generally ready to divorce once they know everything about one another gives the marriage’s ending an ironic frame: the former husband who questioned her fascination with strangers is remembered through her belief that complete familiarity can wear down a relationship.

After the Marriage

Frances’s feelings toward her ex-husbands shift with her circumstances. When life is going well, she wishes both of them happiness; in a worse moment, she wishes misfortune on their silver-haired heads. That swing makes clear that divorce has not erased attachment or irritation. Sol remains a particular presence in her mind, recalled through his criticism, their shared humor, and the intimacy that can still complicate her anger.