Anne Sexton's Retelling of Cinderella Michelangelo, perhaps the most gifted sculptor and painter of all times, once said that "geniuses stand on the shoulders of other geniuses." As Michelangelo built upon the brilliance of his predecessors, Anne Sexton does the same with her poem "Cinderella". Fairy tales originated as oral traditions and were passed along and sculpted by thousands of story tellers. Each raconteur changes elements in the story to fit their individual needs. Sexton reinvents "Cinderella" as a poem and integrates the story with her own opinion and commentary. Sexton's version of this classic story contrasts the rosy images of human happiness conjured by fantasy with the banality, decay, and despair of everyday life. She conveys this message with a sadistic tone and modern language, while drawing upon her own hardships and American culture. Throughout her life, Anne had many personal struggles. Her childhood, though privileged in monetary terms, was also one of deprivation and abuse. Anne's mother and father both struggled with alcoholism, a struggle which, according to her biographers, influenced Sexton's substance abuses later in life. In addition to the alcoholism, Sexton also experienced other abuses by her parents; Sexton's biographers describe her mother as "neglectful" and her father as verbally abusive (Middlebrook 57). Anne Sexton attended Garland Junior College for only one year and mar... ... middle of paper ... ...ich spawn them. In Conclusion, with her poem "Cinderella" Sexton not only created a wonderful retelling of a beloved tale, but a critical evaluation of how the story relates to her life and the impact it has on cultural expectations. On her reconstructing of fairy tales, Sexton herself said, "I take the fairy tale and transform it into a poem of my own, following the story line, exceeding the story line, and adding my own pizzazz" (Middlebrook 336). And pizzazz is one thing that Anne Sexton definitely had. She was a brilliant artist that marked the beginning of feminist poetry. Though her death was unfortunate and spirit and distinct voice still shines through her poem "Cinderella."
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 ...
Sexton was a pioneer. As member of the "confessional school" of poetry that arose in America in the early '60s, she helped put an emphasis in American culture on revelation that continues today.
Often, the reader cannot help but feel a bit disheartened after reading a collection of Anne Sexton’s poems. Sexton herself was disheartened with the prospect of life, killing herself at the age of 45 after years in and out of mental facilities. Her poems certainly take cynicism to an extreme, but they remain the type of extreme valuable to the literary canon. Her poetry leaves the reader questioning the world around him, now able to see stories and past experiences in a new light. And although in the case of Sexton this light may be a shadow, the new depth it adds highlights to us that which we hold truly pure.
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.
It all begins with “Once upon a time” and ends with “and they lived happily ever after”. “Cinderella” is a very widely known story that many children around the world look up to and admire through their entire life. The history of this story, how scholars interpret this tale, and how the authors have retold the story are all key points to keeping this story fresh and popular. Most of the time when people hear the story of “Cinderella”, they think about the Disney version and maybe it is time that changes. All in all, the story brings light to everyone’s life even if they only know the original “Cinderella”.
In the article, “Fairy Tales and a Dose of Reality,” Catherine Orenstein attempts to show the contrast between the modern romanticism of marriage and the classic fairy tale’s presentation of them (285). She looks at the aristocratic motivations for marriage and the way these motivations are prominent in Cinderella. She then looks at the 20th century to highlight the innate difference of our mentalities, showing a much more optimistic and glorified relationship. In the article, “Cinderella: Not So Morally Superior,” Elisabeth Panttaja claims that Cinderella’s success can be attributed to her craftiness (288). She shows her and her mother as an equal to the stepfamily, analyzing each family’s goals and values. She attempts to show their similarities,
Most children experience agony and hope as they face the struggles of sibling rivalry throughout their childhood. This situation has been experienced by children, of whom may or may not have siblings, for hundreds of years. Several stories represent this crisis, including the Biblical story of Abel and Cain which was written over 3000 years ago. Abel of whom was forced to be Cain’s ash-brother. Cain had developed an intense feeling of jealousy of Abel when his offering to the Lord was rejected while Abel’s was accepted. This caused him great agony, but he wasn’t the only one. The fairytale “Cinderella” encompasses the ideas of sibling rivalry as well as the agonies and hopes that correspond with it.
A lot of the fairy tale stories that we have seen as young adults and even as adults are original folk tale stories that have been modified and rewritten to accommodate our new cultures. Cinderella happens to be one of these stories that have been changed over the years. There are many different versions of Cinderella, an African Cinderella, a Hungarian Cinderella and even a Chinese version. All of the Cinderella’s are similar in plot, but the author dictates the story’s theme based on the people whom he is writing for which completely changes the story’s tone, mood and other elements. While Perrault's version stresses the values and materialistic worries of his middle-class audience, Grimm’s' focus is on the harsh realities of life associated with the peasant culture. Perrault’s and Grimm’s Cinderella’s have the same plot, but their writing style is different which completely modifies the tale.
“Cinderella” the tale of a suffering young girl who finds her prince charming, and lives happily ever after in a big beautiful castle. Truly, the dream of many young female readers. This story is well known all around the world and has many different versions. This paper will specifically focus on the versions by Charles Perrault and Giambattista Basile. One cannot argue that while writing their individual version of Cinderella both Charles Perrault and Giambattista Basile were strongly influenced by the many other tales of Cinderella, and this can be seen by the repetitive plot line, character and morals in both their stories. Giambattista Basile story was called “The Cat Cinderella” and Charles Perrault named his “Cinderella” or “Little Glass
A prolific exemplification of the ideal female virtues portrayed in fairy tales is Charles Perrault’s “ The Little Glass Slipper”. Perrault presents the ideal female fairy tale character through his portrayal of Cinderella. Cinderella is a tame and forgiving individual who subjects herself to the will of her father, stepmother and s...
The 20th Century American poet, Anne Sexton once said, “Poetry should be a shock to the senses. It should almost hurt.” Sexton displays this belief through her writing style and set of controversial themes, which unquestionably shocked critics at times. Many of Sexton’s poems reflect on her personal struggles with mental illness and her numerous encounters with suicidal feelings. Sexton became known as a confessional poet because of her autobiographical style of writing. The main themes of her poetry are depression and death. “Wanting to Die”, “The Truth the Dead Know”, “The Abortion”, and “The Starry Night”, are all examples of Sexton’s writing that portray her central poetic themes. Through the use of vivid visual imagery, especially natural
...hips. Such being so, we can relate greater and have actual smiles pasted on our faces for a life handed to us was one earned. I find that Sexton has lead this poem of her take on Cinderella to a gratifying point, not without throwing in sarcastic approaches, which many would enjoy, while others are stuck in their disposable fairytale ending. I found this poem to be a breath of fresh air and take a look at what I have, and value it for it is real, and I can write my own storybook ending to be one that is gratifying and reachable at best. One that will leave a smile on my face where I can then declare, “yeah, that is my story.”
In her famous poem, “Cinderella, Ann Sexton mocks the happily ever after. “Cinderella and the prince lived, they say, happily ever after, like two dolls in a museum case that was never bothered by diapers or dust.”
In today 's society, it is normal for young children to believe in fairytales. These fairytales are normally seen throughout books and movies but also through parents reading them as bedtime stories. These tales in our society have unrecognized hidden guidelines for ethics and behaviors that we provide for children. One such children 's story is Disney’s Cinderella, this film seems to be a simple tale of a young woman whose wishes work out as to be expected. This tale reflects the expectations of women 's actions and beliefs of a proper women.
Each person in the world has heard of Cinderella, no matter what kind of version it may be. Cinderella is the one fairy tale story that has been popular and will always be the one tale that has to be told to children. Words and story lines might be twist and turn, but in the end the knowledge of the story will be learned in similar ways. As we all know when one story is told another is created, when one is at its best then another is at its worse. One version will always be better than another, but no matter what version it might be the story will be told.