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THE POETRY OF ANNE SEXTON
,.
“The Poetic Heroism of Anne Sexton”
by Diana Hume George,
in Literature and Psychology (1987)
Introduction
In her essay “The Poetic Heroism of Anne Sexton,” critic
Diana Hume George examines the taboo subject matter that
appears throughout Sexton’s poetry and its resonance with
the Oedipus myth, as interpreted by Sigmund Freud and
Bruno Bettelheim. For George, Sexton’s attempts to confront
her childhood neuroses recall Oedipus’ search for truth.
Sexton “thought herself guilty of her mother’s death, and of
marrying her father,” and struggles to resolve her feelings
through poetic disclosure. By writing about her time spent in
mental institutions and her feelings of familial guilt, George
demonstrates how many of Sexton’s poems play with this
most sacred taboo.
f
What the story of the Sphinx seems to emphasize is that the
answer to the riddle of life is not just man, but each person
George, Diana Hume. “The Poetic Heroism of Anne Sexton.” Literature and
Psychology 33.3–4 (1987): 76–88.
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