Theme Of Cinderella By Anne Sexton

Register to read the introduction… Two of the easiest poems in this collection to find the feminist message in are “Cinderella” and “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” Sexton takes these two timeless tales and picks out the ways in which they cause readers to condescend women. She does this deftly and magically in these poems and provokes deep thoughts on the ways women are portrayed in the original tales.
Sexton does her best to take the focus of her poem “Cinderella” off of how ugly the step-sisters and move it to how black hearted and cold they are. She says that they are “pretty enough” but have “hearts like blackjacks.” Through these descriptions Sexton does a very good job of moving the focus to where she wants it. In doing this she is able to downplay the importance of outward appearances in social situations and relationships.
While she revises through downplaying the importance of the looks of the sisters in one part of her poem, Sexton revises through emphasis in another part. When she begins to talk about the self-mutilation that the …show more content…
First of all, the sarcastic way in which she refers to Snow White as having eyes “shut for the thrust of the unicorn...unsoiled...a lovely virgin,” is a blatant attack on how society holds the chastity of women above all other aspects as desirable and associates it with beauty. Women are portrayed as beautiful because of their chastity and this, therefore, causes men to find virgins much more appealing. Chastity is emphasized because it makes the man’s conquest that much sweeter and that much more of an accomplishment and makes his wife that much more of a trophy. This furthers the ideal of a woman as the possession of one man and one man