Themes Of Anne Sexton - 1069 Words

Themes from Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Robert Hayden An Evaluation of themes from Mirror, Courage, Explorer, and Douglas During the 1900’s, a series of new poets came into existence. These poets brought about new themes and perspectives that manipulated the minds of humans all across the world. The poets that are in our study are Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Robert Hayden. These four poets wrote detailed, intricate poems that are packed full of a slew of different themes and perspectives. These themes can be distilled and life lessons can be derived from them. Raymond A. Schroth states intelligently, â€Å"Perhaps the best way to define courage is to live it.† Anne Sexton’s poem Courage thrives off of†¦show more content†¦Her unique poem lays down a line of different instances of courage throughout, and describes courage in a way never thought of before. Sexton elaborately states in lines 20 and 21 of her poem, â€Å"Your courage was a small coal that you kept swallowing.† Sheâ⠂¬â„¢s explaining in this quote that courage has always been inside everyone, and when everyone is little, they bury it down and don’t let it breach the surface. However, as humans grow and experience, they become more and more open, and courage begins to flow from the souls of everyone. Maya Karsh states in her poem Courage, â€Å"Courage is not your strength, but the ungiven fighting part of you.† Brilliantly states by Karsh, courage is the driving force within all humans, capable of great things. Moreover, Sexton portrays this message thoroughly within her poem. Within Brooks Explorer, she encourages the message to never hold back on making choices. Within her poem, a man is faced with numerous choices to make as he explores his apartment. She states in line 12, â€Å"He feared most of all the choices, that cried to be taken.† Brooks is desperately trying to show her readers that one shouldn’t be afraid to make choices, or to explore, because explorat ion and more importantly choices, are crucial to human survival. Without the ability to choose, humanity would be tuck in an endless loop of pain, therefore, Brooks begs us to utilize this marvelous skillShow MoreRelated Anne Sexton: Poetry as Therapy Essay1439 Words   |  6 PagesAnne Sexton: Poetry as Therapy Many great literary and artistic geniuses have been troubled with deep depression and mental illness. Anne Sexton is an example of a poet with such problems who used her personal despair to inspire her poetic works. Not all of Sextons work is based solely on her mental health; but a good portion of her work is influenced by her constant bouts with depression. As she struggled to deal with her own marital infidelity and the problems associated with being a femaleRead MoreSylvia Plath and Anne Sexton1240 Words   |  5 Pages â€Å" Confessional Poets† Sylvia Plath (1932-1963) and Anne Sexton (1928-1974) both explored similar themes such as tone, structure, and symbolism. Many of their poems were cries for help, which resulted into metal illness, depression, and suicide. In 1958, Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath met, and much to their surprise had a few things in common. They both were fascinated with death and suicide. Both Sexton’s and Plath’s poetryRead MoreAnalysis Of Self In 1958 By Anne Sexton1647 Words   |  7 Pages Throughout all the years of her poetry, Anne Sexton continues to make powerful connections. All things considered, Sexton was talented in using symbolism in her poems. Her analyzed poem â€Å"Self in 1958† allows people to view the multiple symbolic pieces in her work. Examples varying from a dollhouse to a plaster doll itself. Yet, when she uses these interesting pieces of symbolism, it turns out to be a much deeper concept than once thought. The doll in this poem, in turn becomes an extremely largeRead MoreAnne Sexton : An American Poet1216 Words   |  5 PagesContext: Anne Sexton was an American poet born on November 9th, 1928 in Newton, Massachusetts and raised in Weston. Her family was successful economically wise and Sexton was raised in a middle-class environment; however, Sexton’s relationship with her parents were extremely strained and perhaps abusive; her father was an alcoholic. It was suggested that Sexton may have been sexually abused by her parents and felt that they were hostile to her. As such, Sexton sought refuge in her close relationshipRead MoreEssay On Anne Sexton891 Words   |  4 PagesContext: Anne Sexton was an American poet born on November 9th, 1928 in Newton, Massachusetts and raised in Weston. Her family was successful economically wise and Sexton was raised in a middle-class environment; however, Sexton’s relationship with her parents were extremely strained and perhaps abusive; her father was an alcoholic. It was suggested that Sexton may have been sexually abused by her parents and felt that they were hostile to her. As such, Sexton sought refuge in her close relationshipRead MoreConfessional Poetry Essay1640 Words   |  7 Pages Confessional poetry was not purely autobiographical, but did often express deeply disturbing personal experience. (Academy of American Poets) Three important poets who are typically associated with the confessional poetry movement are Anne Sexton, Allen Ginsberg, and Denise Levertov. An analysis of selected works from these poets yields a deeper insight into the individual poets and the broad differences among them. Poetry rarely flourishes in a vacuum. As such, the influences and historyRead MoreThe Comparison and Contrast of Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath Essay example1646 Words   |  7 PagesComparison and Contrast of Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath The two poems, â€Å"And One for My Dame† by Anne Sexton and â€Å"Daddy† by Sylvia Plath, both explore similar themes through the use of literary elements such as structure, tone and symbolism. Structures in each poem are alike with length but differ with the actual form. The tone Plath conveys is negative one while Sexton’s is more neutral. The symbolism in â€Å"Daddy† was also negative with symbols of the devil but Sexton used a nursery rhyme as a symbolRead MoreMary Sexton s The Grimm Brothers And Anne Sexton948 Words   |  4 Pagesforgot to invite the twelfth wise woman. The twelfth wise woman enters the feast full of anger and cast a horrible spell on Briar Rose. This story of Briar Rose has evolved over time into two stories by different authors, the Grimm brothers and Anne Sexton. They each have different perspectives on the author’s past and the role of the father making. These differences make the fairy tale propose two different stru ggles of both social level and a broken family. Authors’ viewpoints are often shownRead MoreCinderell An Outdated, Lying, Anti Feminist Tale?925 Words   |  4 PagesCinderella: An Outdated, Lying, Anti-Feminist Tale? Anne Sexton was a junior-college dropout who, inspired by emotional distress, became a poet. She won the Pulitzer Prize as well as three honorary doctorates. Her poems usually dealt with intensely personal, often feminist, subject matter due to her tortured relationships with gender roles and the place of women in society. The movies, women’s magazines and even some women’s schools supported the notion that decent women took naturally to homemakingRead More##xiety In Courage, Gwendolyn BrooksThe Explorer, And Frederick Douglass732 Words   |  3 Pagesany single poetic or critical movement or aesthetic school.† All poetry has a different theme that it focuses on, or does it? In these four poems, there is a strong sense of social anxiety, and then the overcoming of that with courage. In Sylvia Plaths Mirror, Anne Sexton’s Courage, Gwendolyn Brooks’ The Explorer, and Robert Hayden’s Frederick Douglass there is a strongly shared theme. To start off is the theme of social anxiety in Sylvia Plath’s Mirror. This poem is about a mirror that spends most