For Better or Worse: A Critical Look at Marriage in Laurel Richardson’s Poetry

Abstract

The following essay is a response to Laurel Richardson’s collection of poems about marriage titled For Better or Worse. Reading the poems made the author consider how she talks, thinks, and teaches about marriage as a scholar who studies close relationships and how Richardson’s poems can instruct students and others about the ideals, critiques, and realities of marriage. The author presents assignments and class discussions about marriage in two family communication and six relational communication courses she taught from a Critical Interpersonal and Family Communication (CIFC) perspective in 2020–2022 by showing the critical work and reflection that students did that ultimately reinforced dominant ideas about marriage in the US. The author includes critical reflections on Laurel Richardson’s marriage poems for context and contrast.