Summary

“Manic Pixie Dream Girl Says” is essentially a monologue formatted in a series of couples. The primary speaker of the poem is the Manic Pixie Dream Girl of the title, and her lines are periodically interrupted by a third person narrator. Manic Pixie Dream Girl addresses an unnamed male figure, constantly telling him about how, “I’m going to save you,” while also reassuring him, “this isn’t about me, this is about you,” and “don’t worry, you are still the lead role./This is your love story, about the way I teach you to live” (30). Throughout the poem the girls’ dialogue continues to elaborate upon this trope of the female character in movies whose sole purpose is to provide character development for the male lead. “The movie is over/Manic Pixie Dream Girl doesn’t go on,/there’s no need...