A Critical Analysis of the Deconstruction of the Fear of Speech in Sexton’s Poetry

Abstract

Decentralized from decision-making processes, women have been placed at the periphery. Their silencing has been fundamental and intentional on the part of patriarchal institutions, for the sake of keeping them behind the discursive scene. To this effect, this paper examines the rebirth of women from prior states whereby they used to be denied the right to sprout the wings towards language within a ‘logocentric’ society. A deep dive into Helen Cixous’s “The Laugh of the Medusa”[i] provides grassroots for allowing a woman to transform silence into articulation. The poetry of Anne Sexton is a case study to witness the drastic change from a crippling fear of speaking into an audacity of a number of speakers in “Lullaby”, “Music Swims Back to Me” and “The Exorcists” to acquire language with which every female orator will be equipped to conquer the masculinist world without anxiety.
 
 [i] The Laugh of the Medusa will be referred to as “TLM”.