Anne Sexton

Anne Sexton

Poetry has been around for many centuries and has been used by many as a way to express oneself. Many poets have used their experiences to create many works. Anne Sexton was a confessional poet that wrote many poems that were based on many life experiences.

Anne Sexton (born Anne Gray Harvey) was born in Newton, Massachusetts on November 9, 1928. Sexton’s father was a successful businessman and her mother was a socialite. Her childhood was “materially comfortable but not happy. Her relationships with her parents were difficult, perhaps even abusive,” (Poetry Foundation). Sexton attended boarding school and then went to Garland Junior College for one year. At age nineteen, she married Alfred “Kayo” Sexton II. Anne Sexton “enrolled

One poem that Anne Sextomn wrote is “Her Kind.” This poem is about a woman reflecting on the life a woman, which was not very enjoyable. “Think of this poem as a walk down memory lane – a rather dark, twisted, and not-so-pleasant memory lane,” (Shmoop Editorial Team). She recalls being a victim of persecution as a woman. Throughout the poem the woman is being described as an outsider of society. In the first line of the poem she states, “I have gone out, a possessed witch,” which sets up the tone for the poem. She uses a lot of imagery and metaphors to show the reader the journey the woman has gone through. The “witch” is “a metaphor for every woman who happens to share her feelings and position in life,” (Shmoop Editorial Team). Sexton also uses repetition in the words “I have been her kind” to help further the point that the woman speaks for many other women. In line twenty, Sexton states “A woman like that is not ashamed to die” and this shows how women are, but not afraid of, being persecuted by society. A main theme of this poem is gender. Anne Sexton uses a female figure to be a symbol of what society fears about women and that women can be scary at times, which can be a good thing, (Shmoop Editorial Team). Another poem by Anne Sexton is “Housewife.” This poem reflects on how a woman is trapped in her position in the home. “Some women marry houses,” is the first line of the poem and it shows that for many women “the household was their job. It was probably their whole life. Their lives revolved around making their husbands comfortable at home, doing the house chores, and cooking,” (1950s American Literature). Women were expected to dedicate themselves to taking care of the house. They were expected to do everything for their husbands. Line seven starts with “Men enter by force,” which has two meanings. One being that he physically enters the house and the second being a sexual imagery that suggests rape, (1950s