Transformations

In this remarkable collection of poems, Anne Sexton offers readers seventeen transformations of classic Brothers Grimm fairy tales. As she makes clear in the first poem "The Gold Key", Sexton assumes the persona of the storyteller for this collection, calling herself a "middle-aged witch" with "my face in a book and my mouth wide, ready to tell you a story or two." This device allows her to write about intensely personal topics, such as a sexually abusive father, through the detached voice of a storyteller. The use of fairy tales also provides Sexton with a shared cultural framework that enables her to communicate her own experiences and perspectives in a universal language that readers already understand intimately. Fairytales have a power few of us realize. The stories shape many of our fantasies as children; they also condition us to accept traditional gender roles as we grow up. I believe that Anne Sexton understood their power and influence. She brilliantly tapped into that power and transformed the tales in a way that forces the reader to look at them with fresh eyes. Before launching into the tales themselves, Sexton set the themes of the stories in a modern or personal context. These connections, along with the interlacing of 20th century details (like soda pop and jockstraps) and her use of modern syntax in the fairy tales made their subversive commentary on the burdens and fears of women in a society shaped by male dominance startlingly clear. In her transformed tales, Sexton examines the female archetypes they depict: the docile virgin, the wicked stepmother, the aging witch. She also sheds an illuminating, feminist light on the themes of female competition and the idea of happily ever after which pop up often in fairytales. It is significant that Sexton uses the gritty Grimm versions of the tales, instead of the child-friendly Disney versions we grew up with. Their original form reveals the subversive nature and insightful symbolism of the fairy tales, many of which were crafted by women. While this collection is a departure from Sexton's typical confessional style, the poems of "Transformations" are unabashedly naked and intimately introspective--a wondrous achievement by one of our greatest poets.

To be a great poet, one must possess the soul of a poet as a prerequisite, and the honesty of a human being who is unafraid of revealing their soul to its essential bareness. Anne Sexton does that with natural and admirable ease. Perhaps exactly because she possessed those necessary qualities, she was well aware that it takes more than just the beautiful aspects of life, to create poetry that touches forgotten strings in our hearts. Strings that each on their own may produce sounds we would rather close our ears to, but used in the inspired and ingenious way as she does, and as a compilation, sound off with a flare, expressing the opus of Anne's life and resonating within our own hearts and lives. Great poetry turns on "lights" in our minds and awakens dormant feelings in our hearts. Anne artfully proves that the ugly and the frightful, the ridiculous and the humorous, and not just the beautiful, all find their perfect place in poetry. The creativity and wit of her poems, like facets of a gem, reflect life's elements of joy and anguish, and clearly demonstrate that soul's journey inevitably passes through the muck of life, yet, in the end, and deep in its core, it remains unchanged, in its purity and reflection of the Devine. In two words: Great poetry! Anne Sexton, you ARE loved! Anna Leda

I had to get it for school so it was alright. Really cool poems.

Love her poems, especially with the fairy tale influences tirmed dark and brought into gritty real life. I really connect with many ways writers and artists of many kinds bring fairy tales into the modern world or put twists on them. Fairy tales have a universality, amd it is fascinating to connect these stories that most people think of as for children with morbid and important "adult" issues. Though I do feel sorry for the autor's suffering, she was seriously abusive to her daughter (I don't want to go into detail). That isn't relevant to her work some might say, but it saddens me becaise I get invested in the creators of work I admire. It is all very sad, and maybe soemday I will try to study Anne more. For now I prefer to just enjoy these poems. One of the first amd only poetry collections I bought.

Not what I thought it was going to be. I have enjoyed the most of it though.

I enjoyed Anne Sexton's take on these fairy tales. I enjoyed her witty commentary and analysis pertaining to this collection of poems.

This is a delightful book by one of the premier Confessionalist poets of the 70s. I bought it for my daughter and she loves it. Her poetry is heartfelt and clever. And a little dark.

This compilations is full of details that reflect the author's loss of innocence as surely as for the characters in Grimm's Fairy Tales. A must for modern poetry lovers and students of the darker origins of children's literature that was often more about cautionary talecrafting rather than entertainment.

Anne Sextons take on Grimms Fairy Tales is an interesting one. She writes them from a womens perspective but a very emancipated one.So the turns and twists are unexpected and intriguing. I enjoyed myself very much.

Disturbing. Sad and funny. Anne suffered a great deal. Not to be read if you are of a nervous disposition.

Anne Sexton's 'Transformations' was recommended by a friend and I am glad I acted on it. These poems about fairy tale characters - Rapunzel, Rumpelstiltskin et al, peel away the layers of what you thought you knew, and really resonate. Some will make you laugh and some will disturb you, but they'll stay with you after the book is back on the shelf.

This is terrible. The poet simply retells each fairytale altering them slightly by including some modern vernacular and contemporary similies and situations. The poems are not even witty, just cynical observations.