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Suicide in literature essay
Sylvia plath metaphors
Character of father in Daddy Sylvia plath
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Lady Lazarus” and “Daddy” by Sylvia Plath both convey Plath’s feelings of subjugation and hopelessness. She struggled to make herself feel heard over the male voices that were constantly silencing her. First from her father and then her husband. Plath uses Holocaust imagery to illustrate her battle against overwhelming male oppression she faced. Plath recreated herself as a victimized Jewish woman punished by Nazis— who metaphorically represent the male reign that she feels has crushed her freedom and individuality. This powerful and shocking metaphor is used to criticize patriarchal views and belief. The theme of death and suicide is heavily present as well. It is well known that Plath had multiple suicide attempts and “Lady Lazarus” and “Daddy” …show more content…
Plath sees herself as Lazarus because he was brought back from death and essentially born again. “ I have done it again. / One year in every ten / I manage it” (Plath 1-3). By the time she had written “Lady “Lazarus” Plath had attempted suicide three times. The first time she was only a little girl and has since said it was an accident. But “The second time [she] meant / To last it out and not come back at all” (37-38). Each time she has tried to end her life she is brought back. This has given Plath the idea that she controls her life and death. And that each time she is brought back she is reborn into a better, stronger person. “And like the cat I have nine times to die / This is Number Three / What a trash / To annihilate each decade” (21-24). Plath believes, like a cat, she has multiple times she can die and come back to life. She literally calls her life “a trash” that should be destroyed each decade. Because each time she does she can begin a new life that will be better than the previous one. Jon Rosenblatt says this about Plath’s feelings of rebirth:
The entire symbolic procedure of death and rebirth in "Lady Lazarus" has been deliberately chosen by the speaker. She enacts her death repeatedly in order to cleanse herself of the "million filaments" of guilt and anguish that torment her. After she has returned to the womblike state of being trapped in her cave, like the biblical Lazarus, or of being rocked "shut as a seashell," she expects to emerge reborn in a new form
The Holocaust was a vile and horrific event that took place in Germany under the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler, gruesomely taking the lives of around 6 million Jews. To compare one self’s experience to that of those gassed and subjected to atrocious conditions is unbecoming at the least. The vast majority agree with this notion as well, including Irving Howe. Irving Howe, writer of the article “The Plath Celebration: A Partial Dissent” describes making Plath’s comparison her life to that of a Jew in her poem “Daddy” as “monstrous” and “utterly disproportionate” (1082). While Howe makes a reasonable argument, I disagree when he states that “Sylvia Plath tries to enlarge upon the personal plight” (1082). Accusing Plath of using the
The first two stanzas, lines 1-10, tell the readers that Plath, for thirty years, has been afraid of her father, so scared that she dares not to “breathe or Achoo.” She has been living in fear, although she announces that he’s already dead. It is obvious that she believes that her father continues to control her life from the grave. She says that she “has had to kill” him, but he’s already dead, indicating her initial promise to forget him. She calls him a “bag full of God,” telling us that she considers her father a very strong, omnipotent being, someone who is superior in her eyes.
In the free verse poem "When death comes" by Mary Oliver, the speaker contemplates what the inevitability of what death means to humans. Structurally, the poem bears no rhyme scheme as it depicts the free thought of the speaker. The voice of the speaker in this poem resonates with curiosity and the idea of life after death. Through the utilization of rhetorical devices such as repetition, alliteration, symbolism, and personification, the reader will come to understand that underlying tone that death is imminent regardless of how one 's life is spent. Within the poem, the source of tension resides in the constant internal struggle to oust the cycle of life and death. In some instances, Oliver’s curiosity and acceptance of death allows her to
Sylvia Plath’s jarring poem ‘Daddy’, is not only the exploration of her bitter and tumultuous relationship with her father, husband and perhaps the male species in general but is also a strong expression of resentment against the oppression of women by men and the violence and tyranny men can and have been held accountable for. Within the piece, the speaker creates a figurative image of her father by using metaphors to describe her relationship with him: “Not God but a Swastika” , he is a “… brute” , even likening him to leader of the Nazi Party; Adolf Hitler: “A man in black with a Meinkampf look .” Overall, the text is a telling recount of her hatred towards her father and her husband of “Seven years” and the tolling affect it has had on
...lems, such as depression, sadness, overbearing and domineering figures. The themes shared in each poem is also a common similarity, such as the example of numbness. The choice in the speaker of each poem is also important, and also share a similarity between the two poets. The idea that the two women wrote poems that shared stories from their own life is not far-fetched, especially in the case of Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy”. Of the three poems, I found “Daddy” to be the easiest to understand because of its full sentences and vivid description. Furthermore, since the poets wrote as if the speaker of the poem was themselves, I found that their poems were more emotional and gripping than if they were not. Because of this, I considered their poetry very similar in that the speakers are like-minded emotionally, but the writing style of the poets themselves is different.
Sylvia Plath’s life was full of disappointment, gloominess and resentment. Her relationship status with her parents was hostile and spiteful, especially with her father. Growing up during World War II did not help the mood of the nation either, which was dark and dreary. At age 8 Plath’s father of German ancestry died of diabetes and even though their relationship was never established nor secure, his death took a toll on her. “For Sylvia, who had been his favorite, it was an emotional holocaust and an experience from which she never fully recovered” (Kehoe 90). Since she was so young she never got to work out her unsettled feelings with him. Even at age eight, she hid when he was around because she was fearful of him. When she was in his presence his strict and authoritarian figure had left an overpowering barrier between their relationship. Sadly enough by age eight Plath instead of making memories with her dad playing in the yard she resented him and wanted nothing to do with him (Kehoe). These deep-seated feelings played a major role in Plath’s poetry writings. Along with his “hilterian figure,” her father’s attitude towards women was egotistical and dismissive, uncondemning. This behavior infuriated Plath; she was enraged about the double standard behavior towards women. Plath felt controlled in male-dominated world (Lant). “Because Plath associates power so exclusively with men, her conviction that femininity is suffocating and inhibiting comes as no surprise” (Lant 631). This idea of a male-dominated world also influenced Plath’s writing. Unfortunately, Plath married a man just like her father Ted Hughes. “Hughes abandonment apparently stirred in her the memories and feelings she had struggled with when her ...
Sylvia Plath created her title from her “long standing interest in the biblical story of Lazarus that peaked after her first attempt of suicide in 1953” and she felt like she “had been on the other side of life like Lazarus"(Plath’s LADY LAZARUS). Unlike the story “Lazarus” which uses the power for good, “Lady Lazarus” struggles to rise up over the cruel deity. Just like in “Lazarus” when Jesus has risen him from the dead, a similar belief is shown in “Lady Lazarus” after she was able to survive her near-death suicide attempts. In the poem “Bitch”, the title holds the meaning of a female dog and the male use of the word. It also shows in the title a “truly felt sense of belittlement confronts demeaning male name-calling.”(Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Ed.) Often times, males use this generalized term to describe an overbearing or unpleasant women. Since Kizer is a feminist, she included this definition to associate the male-dominant world of the 1950’s that she wanted to put an end to. The speaker refers to her inner-self as a bitch using both denotations to describe the dog-like overbearing emotions that she receives from the conversation with her
“Lady Lazarus” provides unfiltered insight into the emotions and desires of a deeply tormented woman. Having been denied a relationship with her father, abased by a dissatisfied mother, betrayed by her husband, and deprived of the ability to take her own life, Sylvia Plath was desperately seeking control. Plath’s “Lady Lazarus” contains her evolution from a tortured and paranoid soul to a powerful feministic icon that seems to be more than human. Despite the openness of the poem, in nature and in form, the disturbing imagery works to place tremendous distance between the poet and the reader. While this places Plath at the center of a spectacle—a situation for which she clearly expresses her discontent—she secures a commanding position in which spectators could only view with detached fascination. Written in the tempestuous period surrounding Plath’s 30th birthday, the work contains vivid descriptions of her pain, but at its core it is a woman’s struggle for control. As the poem develops, Plath moves from a vulnerable state of suffering and weakness to a position in which she seizes control of life and death, warning God and Lucifer of her newfound power. Plath rises in steps throughout the poem, as if it were an outline of her strategy. The poet demonstrates the method in which she must first control her oppressors as well as her own experiences of suicide, later being rendered capable of completing this transformation as a result of her election to return to wreak havoc rather than embrace a mundane lifestyle.
Her creative energy, however, was a source imaginative and creative power which led to her many literature works are currently used in teaching psychology. Despite the fact that death was a side issue, Plath found it difficult for her to avoid it in her poems especially "Daddy" and "Lady Lazarus." Sylvia Plath death was due to the fact that she gambled with life, not caring whether she lost or won, but eventually, she lost at the end (Miller 381). "Daddy" and "Lady Lazarus" are the poems that reflect her life and the surrounding that she was living in. At times Plath tried to get rid of tension in her life by trying to be the "tension" herself. Additionally, she used history to describe herself and concerning her life encounters with the people that surrounded
In the poem, “Daddy,” Sylvia Plath shows her character to have a love for her father as well as an obvious sense of resentment and anger towards him. She sets the tone through the structure of the poem along with her use of certain diction, imagery, and metaphors/similes. The author, Sylvia Plath, chooses words that demonstrate the characters hatred and bitterness towards the oppression she is living with under the control of her father and later, her husband. Plath’s word choice includes many words that a child might use. There is also an integration of German words which help set the tone as well. She creates imagery through her use of metaphors and similes which allow the reader to connect certain ideas and convey the dark, depressing tone of the poem.
Throughout the poem "Daddy" by Sylvia Plath, the author struggles to escape the memory of her father who died when she was only ten years old. She also expresses anger at her husband, Ted Hughes, who abandoned her for another woman. The confessional poem begins with a series of metaphors about Plath's father which progress from godlike to demonic. Near the end, a new metaphor emerges, when the author realizes that her estranged husband is actually the vampire of her dead father, sent to torture her. This hyperbole is central to the meaning of the poem. Lines 75-76 express a hope that they will stop oppressing her: "Daddy, you can lie back now / There ís a stake in your fat black heart." She concludes that her father can return to the grave, because she has finally rid herself of the strain he had caused her, by killing his vampire form. Despite this seeming closure, however, we will see that the author does not overcome her trauma.
Sylvia Plath?s poem "Daddy" describes her feelings of oppression from her childhood and conjures the struggle many women face in a male-dominated society. The conflict of this poem is male authority versus the right of a female to control her own life and be free of male domination. Plath?s conflicts begin with her father and continue into the relationship between her and her husband. This conflict is examined in lines 71-80 of "Daddy" in which Plath compares the damage her father caused to that of her husband.
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” It would be difficult to find an American who doesn’t recognize these now-famous words. This verse represents the essence of our nation, and every citizen in the Land of the Free should be aware of its significance. Known as the Great Melting Pot, America is a nation of immigrants.
Sylvia Plath has brought the attention of many Women’s studies supporters while being recognized as a great American poet. Most of her attention has come as a result of her tragic suicide at age thirty, but many of her poems reflect actual events throughout her life, transformed into psychoanalytical readings. One of Plath’s most renowned poems is “Daddy”. In this poem there are ideas about a woman’s relationship with men, a possible insight on aspects of Plath’s life, and possible influences from the theories of Sigmund Freud.
Through her dark and intense poetry, Sylvia Plath left an eternal mark on the literary community. Her personal struggles with depression, insecurities, and suicidal thoughts influenced her poetry and literary works. As a respected twentieth century writer, Sylvia Plath incorporated various literary techniques to intensify her writing. Her use of personification, metaphors, and allusions in her poems “Ariel,” “Lady Lazarus,” and “Edge”, exemplifies her talent as a poet and the influence her own troubled life had on her poetry.