A Cinderella Story

A Cinderella Story The poem “Cinderella” by Sylvia Plath is a Shakespearean sonnet outlining a distressing moment for the tragic maiden Cinderella. This poem illustrates the impermanence of beauty and youth through contrast and images. All happiness, however satisfying, must eventually end, resulting in suffering and desperation. Love and youth, like all things, are impermanent and will eventually wilt. The speaker states, “Rose candles flicker on the lilac wall” (7), using an onomatopoeia “flicker” to illustrate the constant oscillation of the candle. The rose, a symbol of love, is used in conjunction with “flicker” to evoke the impermanence of love. The images of the rose candle and lilac wall are used to show the softness and romance of love. The speaker states “She hears the caustic ticking of the clock” to display the desperation she finally has to face. The diction “caustic” is a harsh word which shows the deadly and corrosive force that love has to face. The cacophonous “k” sound in caustic, ticking, and clock, is used to emphasize the continuous hardships that love has to encounter and ultimately disappear. One always clings to beauty and happiness which eventually leads to desperation. The speaker says, “Until near twelve… guilt-stricken halts, pales, clings to the prince” (11-12) creates pathos to illustrate her longing to hold on to happiness. The allusion “twelve” to the classic Cinderella story shows the dreadful moment when the clock strikes twelve and her beauty and youth will be no more. The image of when the speaker pales evokes the sudden realization of the fallen beauty. The prince, a symbol of hope and love, is used to portray that the speaker desperately wants to cling on the prince that she loves. Even though love eventually dies away, there is always a continuous cycle of happiness and desperation. This poem is a Shakespearean sonnet with an iambic pentameter. The structural sense of this poem displays the reoccurring chain of joy