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Essay on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
The poem "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" by Anne Sexton tells this famous folklore in a different way. To begin with, the treatment of the poem is quite dissimilar as compared to the original story. As folktales do, the version presented by Anne Sexton does not cater to children as it is quite blunt and creates an almost harsh impression upon the minds of the readers.
Though Anne Sexton has followed the old tale, she has made variations which are to a degree quite diverse. As the tale goes, Snow White is a sweet, docile and a submissive character. Anne Sexton has portrayed the character as someone with a hard heart. We can see this in the poem when in the end her stepmother dances until she dies, Anne says,
"And so she danced until she was dead,
a subterranean figure,
her tongue flicking in and out
like a gas jet.
Meanwhile Snow White held court,
rolling her china-blue doll eyes open and shut."
(Excerpt taken from the internet).
These lines clearly portray Snow White as a hard-hearted person, someone who does not flinch at the site of her stepmother dying. Similarly, even though Snow White is the fairest of them all in the tale, in Anne Sexton's poem, she is portrayed as someone who is somewhat, if not quite, besotted with her beauty. She says,
"Meanwhile Snow White held court,
rolling her china-blue doll eyes open and shut
and sometimes referring to her mirror
as women do."
(Excerpt taken from the internet).
Most fairy tales have heroines who are forgiving and magnanimous in nature. A fairy tale tells the story of a beautiful lady who is completely unaware of her exquisiteness. Anne Sexton, however, contradicts the usual characterization and makes it more real by comparing Snow White to all women................
