The Mother, and the Witch: An Exploration and Analysis of Multiple Personalities in Anne Sexton’s Poem, “Her Kind.”      Anonymous 11th Grade

Her Kind, a poem by Anne Sexton, although not an admittance, a confession or a concession in the least presents and vividly explores the concepts of a woman’s role in the society, and the particular alienation and estrangement that might result from it. Anne Sexton employs the use of a range of splendid, lustrous, and magnificently crafted stylistic devices including imagery, implying bereavement and sexuality. The poet, Anne Sexton, having herself suffered at the gruesome and appalling hand of depression and being a mother herself offers an exquisite look into multiple personalities employing a personalized and specific approach together with her unique perception and knowledge of her atypical personas to shed light on the aspects presented in the poem. Her Kind, a poem that had been previously featured and published in various anthologies attempts to break new ground and capture from the poet’s own experiences first hand the idea of a mother, or more generally a woman who has multiple personalities and who the society in which she resides expects to conform to rules but who at the same time is unwilling and reluctant to restrict or limit herself despite being capricious and lubricious. She expertly tests the waters by...