Essay on Family and Barbie Doll

Tanya Ann Chung
Professor Tracy Brunner
ENC 1102
September 29, 2010
Relationships That Constrict Women In Literature and Life, relationships that constrict women are defined as two or more people who are related or interrelated between each other that involve a union, association, or friendship. A relationship normally consists of a man and a woman, a parent and child, or relatives and friends. Other individuals who are out of a relationship will try to jeopardize others because of their insecurities or jealousy. In “Cinderella,” “Girl,” and “Barbie Doll” the main characters’ relationships have a positive or negative outcome on their lives that will lead to wisdom or sorrow. In Cinderella by Anne Sexton, the speaker portrays a well known fairy tale story about a young girl who had no family bond, but created her own fantasy that made her feel loved by a man. Cinderella felt that her new family did not love her after her mother had passed away because they treated her like she was not part of their family. She was represented as a maid or a dirty person amongst the family. Her father did not buy her any fancy clothing either, like he did with the other two sisters. As a result of that, “she slept on the sooty hearth each night and walked around looking like Al Jolson” (Sexton 95). Therefore, her relationship had no success until she met her Prince at the ball. Although her stepmother did not let her go to the ball, the twig that she planted on her mother’s grave, gave her everything that she had wished for. According to Anne Sexton, after Cinderella and Prince got married, describing their relationship was said to be “like two dolls in a museum case, never bothered by diapers or dust, never arguing over the timing of and egg, never getting a middle-aged spread, their darling smiles pasted on for eternity”(97). This quote indicates that no one or anything can interfere with their relationship because it was meant to be. In other words, Cinderella was constricted by her family and now that she is married, no one can stand in her way. In Girl by Jamaica Kincaid, the speaker depicts a relationship between a mother and daughter that is controlling. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary online, to control is “to have power or rule.” Throughout the short story, the girl’s mother is giving her a lecture on how she should live her life by illustrating all the ideal images on how to be a mature lady. For example, “wash the white clothes on Monday and put them on the stone heap; on Sundays try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming; don’t squat down to play marbles---you are not a boy” (Kincaid 81,82). The author’s tone sounds more of an order than an advice because she kept rambling on without having her daughter speak. Their relationship is conflicting because as the mother tries to rule her daughter’s life, the daughter quoted back and said, “but I don’t sing benna on Sundays at all and never in Sunday school”(81) This shows a lack of communication and understanding between mother and daughter because the daughter is aware of not becoming the person her mother fears of becoming. However, the mother does rant about good advices and morals for her daughter to follow, but the author’s message about the relationship creates resentment and family opposition that they suffer due to lack of understanding. In Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy, this devastating poem about a young girl shows conflict between her unacceptable image and others. When she was a child, she

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