Analysis of Hughes's You Hated Spain

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Recommended: Influence of African American literature and importance

In You Hated Spain, Hughes explores the character of a woman and her relationship with her husband. You Hated Spain is set during the honeymoon of Plath and Hughes and is part of Hughes’ collection of poems titled Birthday Letters. Plath’s suicide was the result of a forced breakdown of communication with Hughes. Hughes’ use of free verse and enjambement creates a natural progression of thoughts. The autobiographical, ‘letter-writing’ genre suggests that these poems are a form of therapy, used to communicate Hughes’ unresolved feelings to a fictional Plath. You Hated Spain, St. Botolph’s and 55 Eltisley, along with the other poems in the volume depict the timeline of Plath’s and Hughes’ tumultuous marriage. The collection as a whole is an intimate elegy and celebration of Plath’s life and poetry.
Hughes illustrates the woman as fearful of Spain and emphasises the distance between the woman and her husband. Hughes uses personal pronouns and imagery to convey this. Hughes describes how “...the African Black edges to everything, frightened you.” The noun “edges” is premodified by “African” and “Black”. “African” provokes ideas of foreign, mysterious and uncivilised. “Black” connotes death, darkness, mysterious and evil. In the 1950s, Africa was seen as a wild and exotic continent. These images contrast starkly with Plath’s upbringing in an enclosed and civilised America. The alliteration of “edges” and “everything” is used to convey how she cannot escape Spain as her fear is everywhere. The repetition of “frightened you” reinforces the strong sense of miscommunication; Hughes is un...

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...s utter heaven... With Ted and me... all is possible. We have such fun...” Despite Hughes’ subjective approach, his work is enlightening as it provides a contrasting perspective and suggests there was a darker side to both their honeymoon and of Plath. However, critic Marc Berley thinks that Birthday Letters “is a failure”. He argues that it fails to provide knowledge; it only attempts to heighten the drama of their relationship.

Works Cited

http://www.salon.com/2000/05/30/plath1/ http://voices.yahoo.com/a-critical-review-ted-hughes-birthday-letters-126955.html http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CDsQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.school-portal.co.uk%2FGroupDownloadFile.asp%3FGroupID%3D610624%26ResourceId%3D2006414&ei=pO3cUq3QD4bAhAe21YGoCw&usg=AFQjCNFgFw4P6HbdjRq1UHVkr40JelN3gQ&sig2=5tpJWL9IzJWWTBE3hjOpTQ&bvm=bv.59568121,d.ZG4

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