Sexton’s portrayal of Snow White is a trusting naïve girl who does not rely on common sense or wit, referring to her as a “dumb bunny” (117) rather than an animal known for is wit or intelligence. Repeatedly the dwarfs warn Snow White telling her “beware of your stepmother” (79/101) in hopes that she will not open the door and let her into the house. Even though the dwarfs continually warn Snow White, her immaturity gets the best of her causing her to forgetting the previous pleas of cautions from the dwarfs. The four simple, yet strong, words have a great deal of importance towards Snow White’s safety but her naivety is greater than those cautionary words. Sexton intentionally repeats the warning suggesting the queen is determined to kill Snow White and will continually attempt to kill her. Sexton’s use of the words says a lot about the queen. For example, “beware” (79/101) is much like beware seen in front of haunted houses and dangerous constriction sites as a scary warning sign. (M.Kidane)
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Comments (1)
Tonya Howe said
at 9:00 pm on Nov 9, 2008
Very interesting, Miriam! I like how you reference the multiple times "beware" is used in the poem, and the detail with which you examine the naivete with which Sexton characterizes SW. Again, there are a few places in your annotation where the syntax gets a little confusing and/or wordy--just as an example, in your very first sentence, why not write "Sexton PORTRAYS Snow White AS..."? Watch out for long sentences that should be broken into two.
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