Jane Yolen
An Analysis of Jane Yolen’s “Fat is Not a Fairytale”
In the free verse poem, Fat Is Not a Fairy Tale, the poet opens with the idea of a fairy tale in which the princess is overweight. She opens each of the three stanzas with, “I am thinking of a fairy tale” (1, 8, 15) in order to portray to the reader that her fairy tale exists only in her thoughts, rather than in reality. She continually repeats a series of clever title manipulations such as: “Sleeping Tubby, Cinder Elephant, and Snow Weight” (2, 3, 4). In the first stanza she describes a princess who is anorexic and tragically throwing herself down the stairs. In the second stanza, she describes an overweight princess. In the closing stanza, she makes the point that society is not ready to write or hear such a fairy tale, and ends it with yet another humorous but deeply expressive line: “where everything round is good: the sun, wheels, cookies, and the princess” (20, 21). Jane Yolen uses visual imagery and satirical puns to bring readers attention to the serious social issue of body image. Overall the poem is likeable and effective, making important points about the distortion of role models and body image in modern day society.
When she describes the princesses, she uses metaphors and similes to draw attention to her body image. She says she thinking of a fairy tale where the princess is not “wasp-waisted” (6). This phrase is a hyperbole to describe the stereotypical Disney’s princesses’ figure of a slim waist and large bosom. She also says she’s thinking of a fairy tale where the beauty has “fingers as plump as sausage” (14). This simile is used to describe a woman who’s so overweight that even her fingers are rounder than the skinny princesses’.
The poet uses imagery to describe the fat princesses, such as the simile “fingers as plump as sausage” (14) and the metaphor, “pillowed breast” (13). In being very descriptive in her portrayal of every princess, whether skinny or fat, she’s able to not only
In the free verse poem, Fat Is Not a Fairy Tale, the poet opens with the idea of a fairy tale in which the princess is overweight. She opens each of the three stanzas with, “I am thinking of a fairy tale” (1, 8, 15) in order to portray to the reader that her fairy tale exists only in her thoughts, rather than in reality. She continually repeats a series of clever title manipulations such as: “Sleeping Tubby, Cinder Elephant, and Snow Weight” (2, 3, 4). In the first stanza she describes a princess who is anorexic and tragically throwing herself down the stairs. In the second stanza, she describes an overweight princess. In the closing stanza, she makes the point that society is not ready to write or hear such a fairy tale, and ends it with yet another humorous but deeply expressive line: “where everything round is good: the sun, wheels, cookies, and the princess” (20, 21). Jane Yolen uses visual imagery and satirical puns to bring readers attention to the serious social issue of body image. Overall the poem is likeable and effective, making important points about the distortion of role models and body image in modern day society.
When she describes the princesses, she uses metaphors and similes to draw attention to her body image. She says she thinking of a fairy tale where the princess is not “wasp-waisted” (6). This phrase is a hyperbole to describe the stereotypical Disney’s princesses’ figure of a slim waist and large bosom. She also says she’s thinking of a fairy tale where the beauty has “fingers as plump as sausage” (14). This simile is used to describe a woman who’s so overweight that even her fingers are rounder than the skinny princesses’.
The poet uses imagery to describe the fat princesses, such as the simile “fingers as plump as sausage” (14) and the metaphor, “pillowed breast” (13). In being very descriptive in her portrayal of every princess, whether skinny or fat, she’s able to not only