Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Anne Sexton's "The Red Shoes" is a haunting and deeply symbolic poem that draws on the fairy tale of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen, transforming it into a powerful meditation on inherited trauma, female subjugation, and the destructive consequences of societal expectations. Through vivid and often surreal imagery, Sexton explores the legacy of pain and repression passed down through generations of women, embodied in the cursed red shoes.

The poem begins with the speaker "tying on the red shoes," an act that symbolizes both the acceptance of a burden and the donning of an identity that is not entirely her own. The red shoes, "not mine," belong to her mother, and before that, to her mother's mother. They are "handed down like an heirloom," suggesting that they are a family legacy, but one that is "hidden like shameful letters." This indicates that the red shoes, while a part of the family history, carry a burden of shame or guilt—something dark and unspoken that has been passed from one generation to the next.

The imagery that follows contrasts moments of calm and stillness with the impending violence and chaos symbolized by the shoes. The speaker describes "the stove long before it boils toads" and "the doe lying down on moss, long before the bullet," evoking a sense of peace that is on the brink of being shattered. This juxtaposition highlights the tension between the innocence or tranquility of life before the red shoes are worn and the inevitable destruction that follows.

The poem then delves into the history of the women who have worn these shoes. These women, "hidden" like the shoes themselves, are all fated to board "a train that would not stop." The train, a metaphor for the relentless march of fate or societal expectations, does not allow these women to pause or escape. They are trapped in a dance that is not of their choosing, "danc[ing] like trout on the hook," helplessly writhing in a display of suffering and entrapment.

The surreal transformation of the women as they wear the shoes—"they tore off their ears like safety pins," "their arms fell off them and became hats," "their heads rolled off and sang down the street"—illustrates the disintegration of their identities. The imagery suggests a grotesque loss of self, where the women are reduced to mere parts, fragmented and dehumanized by the forces that control them. This loss of agency is further emphasized by the image of their feet, which "ran for the corner / and then danced forth as if they were proud." The feet, which should carry them away to safety, instead propel them into further destruction, driven by a force beyond their control.

The repetition of the idea that "the feet could not stop" reinforces the sense of compulsion and inevitability. The shoes, like the women who wear them, are "wound up like a cobra that sees you," tense and ready to strike. They are "elastic pulling itself in two," indicating the internal conflict and the impossibility of escape. The feet are described as "islands during an earthquake" and "ships colliding and going down," metaphors that convey the catastrophic impact of the shoes on the women’s lives, as they are torn apart by forces beyond their control.

The poem’s closing lines are particularly bleak: "What they did was the death dance. / What they did would do them in." The dance, which began as something imposed on the women, ultimately leads to their undoing. The reference to "the dead city" at the poem's end suggests that this cycle of destruction is not confined to the individual but affects an entire community or generation. The city, once vibrant, is now lifeless, a graveyard for the hopes and lives of the women who succumbed to the red shoes.

"The Red Shoes" is a powerful exploration of the inherited burdens and societal pressures that shape and, often, destroy women's lives. Anne Sexton uses the fairy tale as a framework to examine the darker aspects of female experience, particularly the ways in which women are conditioned to endure suffering and sacrifice. The poem’s vivid imagery and surreal transformations underscore the themes of entrapment and disintegration, leaving the reader with a haunting sense of the inevitable tragedy that unfolds when one is bound by forces beyond their control. Through this work, Sexton offers a stark critique of the societal expectations that continue to haunt and hinder women across generations.

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