The Beast
The recurring figure of the speaker (or song subject) as beast - wild or caged animal-figure rendered through claws / bare hands, snarling, teeth, and the progression from tame and gentle to feral and dangerous. In Taylor's writing the beast figure stands in for the natural or untamed self that has been confined and defanged by culture or industry, and whose suppressed wildness eventually surfaces as threat.
The beast stands for the authentic, untamed self: powerful in its natural state, then confined, defanged, and put on display by those who profit from its captivity. The removal of teeth is the systematic stripping of the figure's ability to defend herself or strike back, and the return of the snarl is the proof that the suppression was never complete.
Appears in 4 songs
“Does a scorpion sting when fighting back? They strike to kill, and you know I will”
The speaker characterizes herself as a scorpion, an animal that remains true to its nature and is pervasive in its pursuit. Uncle Jerry reads this as the first of multiple animal-self characterizations (scorpion, bear, dragon) that render the speaker as a beast figure whose natural instinct is to strike. The scorpion is connected to folklore (the Scorpion and the Frog/Tortoise) and mythology (Scorpion and Orion).
“And you'll poke that bear 'til her claws come out”
The speaker as bear, a powerful animal being antagonized by someone smaller. Uncle Jerry reads 'poking the bear' as 'a metaphor for antagonizing someone who is greater than you, someone who could possibly hurt you back' and connects it to the historical practice of bear-baiting, which was done near the Globe Theatre and outlawed in 1835. The bear represents the speaker's power and independence, by 2020, she's powerful enough in the recording industry that 'her claws can come out and she can hurt you back.'
“Beauty is a beast that roars down on all fours Demanding more”
Beauty itself is rendered as a predatory beast: the requirement to be beautiful is something that devours women. The beast is both the public demanding more and the internal destruction of maintaining beauty standards (surgical alteration, youth maintenance, body surveillance).
“But my bare hands paved their paths”
The bare hands belong to the same animal register as the snarl later in the song. With no weapon but her own body, the speaker forces her own way through, a predator clearing a path. Uncle Jerry reads the image as the thread tying the poem's animal violence together from its first line.
“I wanna snarl and show you just how disturbed this has made me”
The animal imagery (bare hands, snarling, teeth, tame/gentle, caged) represents the speaker as a wild creature that has been captured and domesticated by the industry/culture. The removal of teeth specifically represents being rendered harmless, unable to bite back or defend herself.
“Twisting all my smiles into snarls”
The snarl represents the speaker's transformation from pleasantness (smiles) to animalistic defensiveness, a baring of teeth in response to the attacks she faces.