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Recommended: Analyzing Barbie doll of Marge Piercy
I also relly like this poem. You make a good point as in reference to the sept sisters mutilating themselves in pursuit of the prince, "Barbie Doll" also touches on this. The part of your post that stood out most to me was when you mentioned the advice Cinderellas mother gave her and that you felt that her mother only wanted the best for Cinderella. I think that is part of what Sexton is saying, that parents are telling the daughters to be devout and good, and their sons to be useful, noble and strong and that these gender specific stereotypes start our children on a potentially dangerous road of self-doubt and false idea of happiness.
I do think at the end of the poem that Sexton was questioning what happiness really is. She is challenging
One aspect of this poem that makes it effective is its structure. It is one continuous sentence, only separated by semi-colons and commas, and it does not follow the rules of line breaks or stanzas. The reader can imagine that a mother is listing the do’s and don’ts of being a woman in a never-ending manner. Repetition is also an important and effective part of this piece because not only does it create a rhythm in the composition aspect but significance in the purpose. Many new statements after the semi-colons begin with “this is how.” Some lines that impacted me were “this is how you smile to someone you don’t like too much; this is how you smile at someone you don’t like at all; this is how you smile to someone you like completely” (105) Women are taught to always be polite and smile, as a way to cover up any emotions or gestures that might suggest otherwise. Women are not praised for expressing how they truly feel because their voices are not important enough. This is one of the most powerful lines in the poem to me because I struggle with saying what I am feeling and thinking too much of what others will think of me if I decide to say
In a way, I think that the poet is trying to convince us that love is
The poem starts with the line, “This girlchild was born as usual,” which suggests that as soon as a girl is born, society already expects her to learn the role she will soon play in when she hits puberty (1). Thus, showing why we are given dolls as little girls to illustrate how we should act and appear according to society. After we learn all the roles we will soon take part in, “the magic of puberty,” hits and girls immediately begin applying the ideals to their own lives (5). As if this attempt to conform is not enough we have other people telling us we are not to perfect. “You have a great big nose and fat legs,” says a classmate to the girl (6). This type of pressure can slowly but surely destroy even the little confidence women do have in themselves.
Anne Sexton portrays the idyllic perfection seen in “Cinderella” and other fairy tales as both completely unrealistic and disdainful. The former can be seen in the subtle use of phrases like “rather a large package for a simple bird,” (Sexton 298) and “that is the way with amputations / they don’t just heal up like a wish,” (Sexton 298). The first quote refers to how a simple dove dropped “a golden dress and delicate little gold slippers” (Sexton 298) at Cinderella’s feet after crying “forth like a gospel singer” (Sexton 298). In reality, the dove could, under no circumstances, carry that kind of weight and still create enough lift to maintain flight. Furthermore, the idea that crying and screaming like a four year old at the grocery store who doesn’t get the sugary treat they wanted will be all the work that is necessary to achieve one’s desires is preposterous. The second quote refers to the actions taken by Cinderella’s step-sisters, who need to physically maim themselves in order to fit into a slipper. That the sisters believe they can simply chop a toe or one of their ankles off without the prince noticing anything is nothing short of ridiculous. The last stanza is perhaps the pinnacle of Sexton’s argument. Cinderella ...
"A woman like that is not a woman, quite,” admits the speaker in “Her Kind,” a short poem written by Anne Sexton, as the piece twists the mother’s and homemaker’s traditional actions into a midnight fairy tale, as they must become as one worms through the dark woods of a troubled mind. On the surface, the poem follows a self-proclaimed witch, who flies, dwells in the forest, and is even burned at the stake. However, the nature of the imagery used, and the couplet ending each stanza provide the initial hint at the figurative meaning of the piece. That in stanza two the speaker works with, “skillets, carvings, shelves, closets, silks…” and fixes suppers, rearranging what is out of order, all suggest the work of a housewife. The couplet ending each stanza makes it clear that
As the world has transformed and progressed throughout history, so have its stories and legends, namely the infamous tale of Cinderella. With countless versions and adaptations, numerous authors from around the world have written this beauty’s tale with their own twists and additions to it. And while many may have a unique or interesting way of telling her story, Anne Sexton and The Brother’s Grimm’s Cinderellas show the effects cultures from different time periods can have on a timeless tale, effects such as changing the story’s moral. While Sexton chooses to keep some elements of her version, such as the story, the same as the Brothers Grimm version, she changes the format and context, and adds her own commentary to transform the story’s
The daughter alludes to an idea that her mother was also judged harshly and made to feel ashamed. By the daughters ability to see through her mothers flaws and recognize that she was as wounded as the child was, there is sense of freedom for both when the daughter find her true self. Line such as “your nightmare of weakness,” and I learned from you to define myself through your denials,” present the idea that the mother was never able to defeat those that held her captive or she denied her chance to break free. The daughter moments of personal epiphany is a victory with the mother because it breaks a chain of self-loathing or hatred. There is pride and love for the women they truly were and is to be celebrated for mother and daughter.
This is shown through the tone changing from being disappointed and critical to acceptance and appreciative. The speaker’s friend, who after listening to the speaker’s complaints, says that it seems like she was “a child who had been wanted” (line 12). This statement resonates with the speaker and slowly begins to change her thinking. This is apparent from the following line where the speaker states that “I took the wine against my lips as if my mouth were moving along that valved wall in my mother's body” (line 13 to line 15). The speaker is imagining her mother’s experience while creating her and giving birth to her. In the next several lines the speakers describe what she sees. She expresses that she can see her mother as “she was bearing down, and then breathing from the mask, and then bearing down, pressing me out into the world” (line 15 to line 18). The speaker can finally understand that to her mother the world and life she currently lived weren't enough for her. The imagery in the final lines of this poem list all the things that weren’t enough for the mother. They express that “the moon, the sun, Orion cartwheeling across the dark, not the earth, the sea” (line 19 to 21) none of those things matter to the mother. The only thing that matter was giving birth and having her child. Only then will she be satisfied with her life and
When it comes to Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches From the Front Lines of the new Girly-Girl Culture this book fits best with the gender subject we have learned in class. When I say it fits best with gender, there are a lot of different aspects with gender. But the ones it fits with are gender socialization, gender roles, and a little with gender inequality. All of these are things I Believe the author is trying to point out in the book. And I believe that when it comes to most of them she gives good
"Her Kind" is a great poem for all women to read because even though society has changed in a better way towards women, a lot of times women are still characterized to be an "ideal" imagine. I simply loved this poem as a woman myself, because it shows how every woman should be confident in herself. A woman should not allow others opinions get to her but instead she should see herself as a special
The poem also showcases the symbolism of her failing marriage and suppressed anxiety. “Now it is time to call attention/ to our bed, a forest of skin/where seeds burst like bullets…/ (Sexton, 1-3). She continues by creating imagery that suggests internal strife or a love-hate relationship with her husband. Sexton chooses to focus on his withering physique in order to describe her struggles with being a sexual person while accepting her role as a woman. “The blood smell is here and the blade and its bullets/Your lung is waiting in the death market. / Your face beside me will grow indifferent” (Sexton,
The poem begins with the birth of a "girlchild" and all of the typical toys that girls at a young age play with. “This girlchild was born as usual and presented dolls that did pee-pee and miniature GE stoves and irons and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy.” (Piercy Lines 1-4). When the girl hits puberty, her classmates tell her she has a big nose and fat legs. (Piercy Lines 5-6). In the difficult physical and emotional stage of puberty, the girl is harassed and degraded because she does not physically fit the acceptable standards of what a girl should look like. The second stanza portrays the girl in a non-attractive way as if any man would only want to use her for manual labor and child birth even with her intelligence. “She was healthy, tested intelligent, possessed strong arms ad back, abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity.” (Piercy Lines 8-9). “She went to and fro apologizing. Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs.” (Piercy Lines 10-11). The second stanza explains that she is giving into society’s strength and apologizing for her appearance. The last line of the second stanza, “Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs,” explains that no matter how many times the girl apologizes she will always be seen as the girl with the unacceptable sized legs and nose. (Piercy Line 10). “Her good nature wore out like a fan belt so she cut off her nose and her legs
Overall, the imagery that Plath creates is framed by her diction and is used to convey her emotions toward all relationships and probably even her own marriage to Ted Hughes, who had rude, disorderly habits. Even the structure of the poem is strict in appearance as each stanza ends with a period and consists of exactly six lines. In addition, the persona of the poem is very detached and realistic, so much that it is hard to distinguish between her and Plath, herself. However, Plath insinuates that the woman actually wants love deep down, but finds the complexity and unpredictability of love to be frightening. As a result, she settles for solitude as a defense against her underlying fear.
This poem only mentions the death of the mother which leaves us to question if the father witnessed all the wrong doing and mistreat Cinderella received. In all honesty it did give me a little more suspense than the original. Her poem really is nothing similar to the original Cinderella except a few bits and pieces. For example the fact that the prince walked Cinderella home, as we know never happened in the original, but perhaps gave the reader some thrill to know what the outcome of such a possibility be. There is nothing wrong with a little bit of change, and that is exactly what Anne Sexton gave the audience in her poem. She allowed the reader to see a different outcome in situations but still allowing the reader to know that no matter all the different situation Cinderella and the prince were meant to live happily ever
There is also a sense of sadness to the poem, as she recounts of her