Class Notes: Cinderella and Swine Lake

There were two very interesting topics that were brought up in today's discussion. In Anne Sexton's "Cinderella" she uses a unique language to represent her true feelings about the very popular and widely read fairytale. Her purpose, I believe, could be nothing more than to mock those who still hold tightly onto the Cinderella fairytale, blindly gripping its lovely tale, claiming it to be truth. Many hopeless romantics confuse the fairytale world with the should-be-reality, identifying love with a knight in shining armor. In comparison to the "Once upon a time" that many tales begin with, Sexton starts her tale with "Once". Now we have a story not set in a time that we can dream about, removing the mystic and sacred elements that help define fairytales, replacing the stony castle upon the flowering mountain, and eradicating the dragons and thorny bushes with a story that we can look at with a modern eye. Not only does she begin her tale with a word that could indicate any time period, but she also attempts to convince readers that this story is one that has only happened once. What does she imply by it? Can there never be again a perfect chivalrous man, destined to rescue us? While we can recognize that the fairytale world and reality are two separate ideas, can the true love emphasised in fairytales--love at first sight--can it spellbind us still, repeating its seductive "happily ever after"? Though I agree with Sexton, I cannot wish fairytales to be untrue, for while they send out bad messages most of the time, they are surrounding ideas of love and happiness, and without them i can only see dismal dreams from here on out.

Another interesting point we discussed was the role of art, stimulated by the reading of "Swine Lake". Art to me has always been beautiful and inspiring--but distracting? I had never thought of it before, and am quite satisfied with this partial definition. I say partial because art is revealing, intellectual, and transformative as well as distracting. It makes me wonder how far then, can we take art? Into the battlements in Iraq or to the chambers of terrorists? Can we show it to abusive mothers or neglectful fathers? Can we use art to our advantage, distracting those wrong-doers from doing wrong? In our advance Twenty-first century, I believe we have the ability to redefine art and its uses, making it not just portray human emotions and scenery but also use it to teach morality and empathy.