Anne Sexton :: essays papers

Anne Sexton The third decade of the twentieth century brought on more explicit writers than ever before, but none were as expressive as Anne Sexton. Her style of writing, her works, the image that she created, and the crazy life that she led are all prime examples of this. Known as one of the most â€Å"confessional† poets of her time, Anne Sexton was also one of the most criticized. She was known to use images of incest, adultery, and madness to reveal the depths of her deeply troubled life, which often brought on much controversy. Despite this, Anne went on to win many awards and go down as one of the best poets of all time. Anne Sexton was born Anne Gray Harvey on November 9, 1928 in Newton, Massachusetts to Ralph Churchill and Mary Gray Staples Harvey (Discovering Biographies 1). From then on, Sexton spent most of her life in the affluent, upper-middle class suburbs of Boston (Discovering Biographies 2). According to many of the experiences described in her poems, she led a very unhappy childhood that’s horrifying memories affected her throughout her life. To overcome her troubles, she married at age nineteen and attempted to settle into the role of housewife and mother (Discovering Biographies 2). Shortly after her marriage, Anne enrolled in a modeling course at the Hart Agency and lived in San Francisco and Baltimore (Academy of American Poets 1). During this time Anne was also educated at Earland Junior College from 1947- 1948 (Twentieth Century American Literature 2). Through out her early twenties, Sexton began to experience bouts of depression that eventually led to hospitalization (Discovering Biographies 2). In 1955, after the birth of her second daughter, Sexton attempted suicide (Discovering Biographies 2). She was then placed under the care of Dr. Martin Orne, who encouraged her to write poems as a form of therapy (Discovering Biographies 1). â€Å"Poetry gave me a rebirth at age twenty-nine† (American Literature 3591), Anne quoted many times during her career. Anne deeply admired and attempted to emulate the confessional poem â€Å"Heart’s Needle† by Shodgrass (Discovering Biographies 2). Sexton decided to enroll in Robert Lowell’s graduate writing seminar at the Boston Center for Adult Education (Discovering Biographies 2). She then went on to be a scholar at the Radcliffe Institute for Independent Study from 1961- 1963 (American Literature 3596).