Poetry Analysis of "Fat is Not a Fairy Tale"

Fat Is Not a Fairy Tale

Jane Yolen

I am thinking of a fairy tale,
Cinder Elephant,
Sleeping Tubby,
Snow Weight,
where the princess is not
anorexic, wasp-waisted,
flinging herself down the stairs.

I am thinking of a fairy tale,
Hansel and Great,
Repoundsel,
Bounty and the Beast,
where the beauty
has a pillowed breast,
and fingers plump as sausage.

I am thinking of a fairy tale
that is not yet written,
for a teller not yet born,
for a listener not yet conceived,
for a world not yet won,
where everything round is good:
the sun, wheels, cookies, and the princess.

The speaker of this poem is a person who came to the realization that in all of the fairy tales he or she has heard, none of the glamourous princesses are fat. The speaker is naming all the options of titles where princesses are large, rather then, "anorexic" or very tiny. Maybe the speaker is larger and was looking for support through fairy tales, but just became more self conscious when he or she came to the realization that all the princesses are very skinny.

The speaker uses a lot of adjectives in this poem, especially in the second stanza. After listing optional names for new fairy tales, the speaker says things like, " a pillowed breast" (Yolen 13) or,"fingers plump as sausage." (Yolen 14). These words create pictures of very large people.

There are many images in this poem. One image is, "where everything round is good: the sun, wheels, cookies, and the princess." (Yolen 20-21). Another is, "has a pillowed breast, and fingers plump as sausage." (Yolen 13-14). Both of these images are very imaginable.

The speaker doesn't use a lot of figurative language in this poem. The speaker is very strait forward in this poem. The speaker clearly explains his or her point. The speaker is trying to explain that maybe, one day, there will be a writer who will want to write about a round princess, rather then an anorexic or skinny princess.