Coventry Patmore - "The Angel in the House"

I have to admit, there is an appeal to being considered an angel. It's very romantic. But angels don't make mistakes. As we have said in class, a woman-angel is allowed no story arc, no journey of self-discovery and improvement. I need that badly, so I have to disagree with Patmore. Also, though it would flatter me to be married to a man who considered me an angel, I ultimately want a best friend for eternity and not a worshipper. Also also, the man who considered me an angel would have to be crazy.

A Snippet

No mystery of well-woven speech,
No simplest phrase of tenderest fall,
No liken'd excellence can reach
Her, the most excellent of all,
The best half of creation's best,


For she's so simply, subtly sweet,
My deepest rapture does her wrong.
Yet is it now my chosen task
To sing her worth as Maid and Wife;
No happier post than this I ask,
To live her laureate all my life.