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merry2e's picture

Using a voice

Fairy tales never fascinated me as a child. I found them fraught with lies and absurdities. Why does the beautiful girl always win the prince in the end? I did not understand. What if she wanted a princess and she was not beautiful but shy, homely, and thick in the middle? It was not until my adult life did I begin to understand the meaning of a good fairy tale. And still, I do not even think I really understand the meaning of most. And then finally, I came across Anne Sexton’s versions of Grimm’s fairy tales and became enamored. When reading these tales, Anne’s twists of sarcasm along with her outright anger at times, allowed me to understand why I thoroughly enjoy, understand, and relate to her writing style in a more logical, realistic manner. I feel she relates to the reader her understanding of patriarchy in her life and the different levels of pain she experienced in her life, all of which she was able to voice through her writing. For me, writing is an intensely personal experience. I have not learned the art of writing a paper that separates my emotions from my writing and find Anne Sexton’s works to be unbelievable inspirational because she used her own unique voice, whether it be controversial or not.   

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