"The White Snake" -Sexton

Question #6!

"In 'The White Snake' Sexton uses a number of unusual similes "a king as wise as a dictionary" (20) "the animals spoke up like puppets" (44) "the princess smiled like warm milk" (76). What do these similes have in common? How do thy contribute to the meaning of the poem?"

When I think of wisdom I would like to say it is normally gained through experience, in my opinion a dictionary is not wise at all. A dictionary is a book of words created by other people. I think Sexton might have compared this king's wisdom to a dictionary's wisdom as a form of contradiction because he did not earn the right to his kingdom through his experience, this king has accomplished all he did due to the work of others.

When thinking of puppets I think of objects that do not think or do for themselves, Sexton compares these animals to puppets as another form of contradiction because anyone would love to hear the thoughts of an animal, but when given the chance these animals are a joke.

The princess with a smile like warm milk..... Sexton contradicted the stereotype of a princess.. NORMALLY a princess is happy and excited when men are competing for her hand in marriage. Sexton's princess seems like a SNOB (not very princess like)!  

These similes contribute to the meaning of this poem because the whole poem is full of contradictions. The servant gets away with stealing the kings food (not typical in a fairy tail), normally the thief would be punished or face some sort of problem. Then the Princess and the Servant build a relationship on lies (contradiction to normal fairy tales), the servant did not win her over through hard work, everything was handed to him...