Conquering depression, alcoholism, and suicidal tendencies contributed to the making of a female writer who would not listen to society but take her own path in poetry. Anne Sexton was more than a housewife, but a woman with real knowledge and troubled mind that lead her to speak the unspeakable in poetry. She was the voice that struggled so dearly to be heard through her confessional style of poetry.
1. Anne Sexton’s Personal Life
Anne Gray Harvey Sexton was a famous poet and playwright of her time. She was born in Newton, Massachusetts. Her father was Ralph Harvey who was a successful woolen manufacturer. Her mother was Mary Gray Staples. She was an unwanted third daughter in the family. She was raised in a middle-class environment. Her life remained uneasy due to the fact that her father was alcoholic and her mother has been frustrated by family life. Fighting with her tough family environment, Anne found peace in tying a close relationship with her maiden great-aunt, Anna Dingley, whom she used to call ‘Nana’. Whatever Anne could not share with her parents, she used to discuss with Nana. Anne went through difficult situations because of her parents. She faced a hostile behavior from them and feared that they might abandon her. Later, Nana’s death also gave Anne a big trauma (Sexton 3).
Anne was not a very good student. She did not like school at all. She could not focus on her studies and her disobedience towards her teachers made them talk to her parents to seek for a counselor. But, her parents did not take the teacher’s advice. Anne’s parents sent her to a boarding school called Rogers Hall in Lowell, Massachusetts. At that time, she started writing poetry and acting. Her beauty charmed many men towards her. At the age o...
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... as a helping hand to such people with grief and sorrows. All in all, Sexton was a wonderful poet at heart. Her poetry has left a deep impact on me. It can never be easy to read and clearly understand a person, whose writings are mainly touching the topics of mental illnesses and suicide. It is morally difficult for me to read the poetry that is imbued with death and depression. Anne Sexton’s creations were as controversial as day and night and I could clearly see that in every single line or verse. The absence of rhyme gives the impression of the free flow of independent thoughts. She was the author that wasn’t ashamed to write about things that were prohibited; moreover, her poetry makes every reader think and cogitate. It isn’t the type of poetry you read for fun over a cup of coffee, it was written for the purpose of bringing the reader aesthetic satisfaction.
Everyone has once been someone that they aren’t necessarily ashamed of, but something they aren’t anymore. When you’re in school, everyone is different; between the popular kids, the jocks, the cheerleader, the dorks, the Goths, and all the other “types” of people. In “Her Kind,” Anne Sexton shows that she has been a lot of different women, and she is not them now. In this paper we will be diving into the meanings behind the displaced “I,” the tone and reparation, and who Anne Sexton really is and how that affects what she is trying to let people see through this poem.
The story of Anne's childhood must be appreciated in order to understand where her drive, inspiration, and motivation were born. As Anne watches her parents go through the tough times in the South, Anne doesn't understand the reasons as to why their life must this way. In the 1940's, at the time of her youth, Mississippi built on the foundations of segregation. Her mother and father would work out in the fields leaving Anne and her siblings home to raise themselves. Their home consisted of one room and was in no comparison to their white neighbors, bosses. At a very young age Anne began to notice the differences in the ways that they were treated versus ...
In the events that happened during the holocaust were very graphic and very displeasing to lots of families. One of those families were Anne Frank’s family. In the research paper you are going to see what it was like for Anne Frank’s family. The general information, when and where they were hiding, and how they all died during the holocaust, will all be stated in the paper.
“I Want to be useful or bring enjoyment to all people even those who I’ve never met, I want to go on living even after my death!” (from a Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank). This quote has a lot of meaning because she wanted to be remembered and I am now writing and telling about her eighty one years later. Anne Frank is a hero because she was a spirited young Jewish girl that had to go into hiding at the age of thirteen.
“There's only one rule you need to remember: laugh at everything and forget everybody else! It sound egotistical, but it's actually the only cure for those suffering from self-pity.” (Frank 321) Anne Frank was a young Jewish girl who went into hiding during World War II to avoid being captured by the Nazis. She and seven other people had to hide in a secret annex Prinsengracht 263 in Amsterdam. Anne received a diary on her 13th birthday and wrote about all the little things that had happened to her throughout the day.
Growing up in the early 1600's was a tough time for many people, especially women. Women were very much discriminated against and made to fulfill the duties that were in the household and nothing else beyond that. Anne Bradstreet was a woman that grew up during this time as a Puritan. Puritans believed that humans could only achieve goodness if they worked hard, were self-disciplined, and constantly examining themselves to make sure that they were living their lives for God. Due to this way of looking at life, Anne Bradstreet had little time for writing her poetry. Being a mother of eight children and a devoted wife one would think that Bradstreet wasn't carrying out her duties to her family and God if she was busy writing poetry. Therefore if people knew that she was writing this poetry she would not want them to think less of her so she would write it in a happy and family oriented sense showing how devoted she was to her family through her poetry. That is why Bradstreet writes how she does in the poem To My Dear and Loving Husband. She writes as if to portray that she has a great relationship with her husband and God. Although from her other poem, Prologue, one can see that underneath she truly feels betrayed by the men in her life and by men in general.
“When you're young you don't know anything, but you have lot of energy to express yourself. So you make a lot of mistakes and you stumble, but you also get a lot of truth from within.” Said Gilbert Hernandez. This idea shows when one is young it is necessary for that person to express their emotions to deal with any complications they might encounter. In the play, “Diary of Anne Frank" Anne is a teenager dealing with the challenges of the Holocaust. Due to this her family goes into hiding. Throughout their experience conflicts start to come up between Anne and the other residents. When facing these conflicts she turns to her father, a sixteen year old boy named Peter, and her diary. It is in this play that the author uses Anne Frank’s relationship with her father, Peter, and her diary to demonstrate the theme of expressing feelings can help cope one with societal challenges beyond someone’s control.
The third decade of the twentieth century brought on more explicit writers than ever before, but none were as expressive as Anne Sexton. Her style of writing, her works, the image that she created, and the crazy life that she led are all prime examples of this. Known as one of the most “confessional” poets of her time, Anne Sexton was also one of the most criticized. She was known to use images of incest, adultery, and madness to reveal the depths of her deeply troubled life, which often brought on much controversy. Despite this, Anne went on to win many awards and go down as one of the best poets of all time.
Early on the reader is aware that Mary Katherine thoughts are unusual and eccentric for a girl her age. Mary Katherine was brought up as upper class in a small village, living with her family until their sudden death. With only her Uncle and
Her family life is depicted with contradictions of order and chaos, love and animosity, conventionality and avant-garde. Although the underlying story of her father’s dark secret was troubling, it lends itself to a better understanding of the family dynamics and what was normal for her family. The author doesn’t seem to suggest that her father’s behavior was acceptable or even tolerable. However, the ending of this excerpt leaves the reader with an undeniable sense that the author felt a connection to her father even if it wasn’t one that was desirable. This is best understood with her reaction to his suicide when she states, “But his absence resonated retroactively, echoing back through all the time I knew him. Maybe it was the converse of the way amputees feel pain in a missing limb.” (pg. 399)
Sexton wrote her second book, All My Pretty Ones, during a very hard time in her life. “During the years of her apprenticeship as a poet, Sexton herself had lost a beloved great-aunt and both of her parents to premature deaths; and her own chronic illness, punctuated with suicide attempts, had felt like a death threat miraculously survived”(Middlebrook 3). Poems such as "The Truth the Dead Know," "The Starry Night," and "The Abortion" within this book, are “elegies or eloquent evocations of these losses” (Middlebrook 3). All My Pretty Ones and her next book Live or Die contained some of Sexton’s best and most notable poems. Both books focused on Sexton’s curiosity with living or dying as Sexton continuously struggled with her depression and contemplated suicide. In the 1970s, as the very lonely Sexton became addicted to drugs and alcohol, she reached her mental breaking point. After finishing what she planned to be her last book, Sexton sat inside her car in her closed garage until she killed herself by carbon monoxide poisoning. Sexton’s death did not come as a shock to many because she left behind books full of warning signs with the majority of her poems written in a depressive mindset with a central theme of death. One critic said that, “Sexton’s poetry saved her as long as saving was possible” (Levertov
This poem is a firsthand account of how Anne Bradstreet was feeling when she experienced the loss of her granddaughter, Elizabeth. Although Bradstreet's attitude on Elizabeth's death seems to reflect her belief in God's plan, the diction suggests otherwise.
Kasdano, Michelle. "Poetry: The Legacy of Anne Sexton." Helium (2007). Web. 31 Aug 2011. .
The poem "Her Kind" by Anne Sexton displays an aspect of the author’s life in a more emotional state. In the poem Sexton describes her journey of life as a woman; she remembers all the hardships she has been challenged with and emphasizes that her path through life was not all in sunshine. Throughout, the poem she uses incredible language to describe her hardships that she faced. She overall connects this to the fact that she is a woman. Anne is not angry at the fact that she has to face all the hardships as a woman but instead agrees that she is a brave woman. Although, her journey through life has made her feel constantly criticized as well as an outcast in the female world, she believed that she is just one of a kind.
Austen was raised in an unusually liberal family where her father was a part of the middle-landowning class. They had a moderate amount of luxuries, but were not considered well off. Unlike many girls of her time Austen received a fairly comprehensive education. She received this mainly through the undivided support of her family. Austen and her sisters, like most girls of their time, were homeschooled. Austen’s zealous parents encouraged the girls to play piano, read and write. Her parent’s encouragement led to her interest in writing. Austen’s father housed an extensive library filled with books which kept Austen occupied for years (“Sense and Sensibility” 119). Through her observant nature and passion to read and write, Austen was able to eloquently write of the many “hidden truths” of social and class distinction during her time. They included daily societal changes some of which foreshadowed future societal leniency. Familial support also extended societal norm of marriage. Her parents attempt...