Running Head: ANNE SEXTON’S CINDERELLA CRITIQUE

Anne Sexton’s Cinderella Cririque

Charon Bingham

Post University

ANNE SEXTON’S CINDERELLA CRITIQUE 2

Anne Sexton’s poem tells the story of a popular fairy tale character, Cinderella, in a

more different approach than many the conventinal versions. In essence, she employs a dark

and ironic retelling of the classic fairytale. The poem guides the focus away the happy

endings of Disney versions and move towards the pain neglect and death. The research

analysis aims to critic the poem.

Anne Sexton exploits the Grimm’s fairy tales to build a more realistic and thematic

from-rags-to-riches story by using an ironic/sacarsic tone (Joose, 2011). Repetition is used as

a stylistic device by Sexton in the first four stanzas to state the thesis myths of “That story.”

She uses that justification to relate her own version of Cinderella. The building of sarcastic

tone relies on the application of hyperbole, simile and symbolism to relate the anonmous

narrator’s feelings via interjections within the context that remain constant. The character,

cinderella is descirbed as a spolied brat who is naïve and out of touch. Anne Sexton describes

Cindrrella’s walk by comparing it to Al Jolsons’s and cites her sleep tobe on a “sooty hearth.”

For this reason, the reader’s initial feeling may be pity for the character. The reality remains

that Cinderella made her bed by opting to believe in fairytales rather than attempting tomake

her situation better. Nevetheless, the use of sacarsm and irony keeps the user amused and

entertained (Joose, 2011).

The speaker intejects with commentary throughout the poem. Commentary enabled

her to deliver personal opinion thus allows the reader to view another side of the storyline.

Consequently, the reader has the ability to build his/her own interpretation as well as embarce

the speaker’s view. The comment “It was a marriage market", found in the second line of the

sixth stanza presents on of the most commentary interjections incorporated in the poem

(Behrens & Rosen, 2011). The metaphor offers Sexton’s opinion of what these types

occasions represent in her mind and also sways the reader away from the story. Such

ANNE SEXTON’S CINDERELLA CRITIQUE 3

interruption compliment the poem’s tone and helps to form a relationship between the

speaker and reader by personalizing it.

Finally, perhaps as he most controversial feature, Anne Sexton persents the reader

with an unexpected tuen in the eight stanza. She resorts to a grotesque form of hyperbolein to

realte to the anticipated happy-emding unlike the turn in moct conventional poemswhere it

resloves situations that end up to it. The prince arrves to find Cinderella and the mean sister

tries to take her place but the slipper does not fit, sp she cuts off her toe. Obiviously blind to

the spill of blood, the prince is ready to take her away until the dove promts him to galnce at

all the blood (Behrens & Rosen, 2011). Anne Sexton uses a dark theme that incorporates

graphic scenes suitable for mature audiences. She stated, “…but her big toe got in the way so

she simply sliced it off and put on the slipper” (Sexton, 2004, p. 249).

The speaker adds curious comments in the poem that gives a deeper insight to the her

own perceptions on life. For example, when she asserts that amputaions do not just heal up

like you wish (Behrens & Rosen, 2011). Anne Sextons creates a fromal disassociation with

the character in the poem and appears to plead for herself. In respect to that , readers can

draw personal conclusions the speaker develops a juxtaposition for interpretation.

The speaker herself, Anne Sexton, never refers her version of Cinderella as a fairytale.

In line with the image and word choices, the poem’s tone communicates her cynicism that is

expressed by way of humour. Each of the story the speaker paraphrases involves an

encouraging reversal of fortune and the usual happy ending, both of which are universal

characteristics of fairytales. The plot adopts a poetic structure. The poem is among the

numerous versions available for reader’s usage. It is a classic fairy tale in which the plot has a

variety of versions.

ANNE SEXTON’S CINDERELLA CRITIQUE 4

References

Behrens, L., & Rosen, L. J. (2011). Writing and reading across the curriculum. Boston:

Longman.

Joosen, V. (2011). Critical and creative perspectives on fairy tales: An intertextual dialogue

between fairy-tale scholarship and postmodern retellings. Detroit: Wayne State

University Press.

Sexton, A. (2004). Anne Sexton: A self-portrait in letters. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.