“Spinster” by Sylvia Plath is a poem that consists of a persona, who in other words serves as a “second self” for the author and conveys her innermost feelings. The poem was written in 1956, the same year as Plath’s marriage to Ted Hughes, who was also a poet. The title suggests that the persona is one who is not fond of marriage and the normal rituals of courtship as a spinster is an unmarried woman, typically an older woman who is beyond the usual age of marriage and may never marry. The persona of the poem is a woman who dislikes disorder and chaos and finds relationships to be as unpredictable as the season of spring, in which there is no sense of uniformity. In this poem, Plath not only uses a persona to disclose her feelings, but also juxtaposes the seasons and their order (or lack thereof) and relates them to the order that comes with solitude and the disorder that is attributed with relationships. She accomplishes this through her use of formal diction, which ties into both the meticulous structure and develops the visual imagery.
Foremost, in the first stanza, Plath gives the visual imagery of a woman taking a walk in the midst of spring with her lover. What ordinarily would be a pleasant image, is depicted as very formal and dull as the walk is “ceremonious” and the male companion is not a romantic lover, but is rather just one of the woman’s suitors (line 2). By using such words as “ceremonious” and “suitor” to explain what may seem as an enjoyable experience on the surface, the woman implies that she is indifferent towards the man and just walks with him to keep up appearances or in other words to do what is customary with the norms of courtship. The woman also reveals a considerable amount of displeasure “...
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...t, threat, or love, either” (29-30).
Overall, the imagery that Plath creates is framed by her diction and is used to convey her emotions toward all relationships and probably even her own marriage to Ted Hughes, who had rude, disorderly habits. Even the structure of the poem is strict in appearance as each stanza ends with a period and consists of exactly six lines. In addition, the persona of the poem is very detached and realistic, so much that it is hard to distinguish between her and Plath, herself. However, Plath insinuates that the woman actually wants love deep down, but finds the complexity and unpredictability of love to be frightening. As a result, she settles for solitude as a defense against her underlying fear.
Works Cited
Plath, Sylvia. "Spinster." Perrine's Sound & Sense. Ed. Helen Triller. 12th ed.
Boston: Lyn Uhl, 2008. 393-394.
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Hillary R. Clinton once said that “There cannot be true democracy unless Women’s voices are heard” (conference in Vienna, Austria 1997). That very brilliant quote relates to a very strong woman by the name of Maya Angelou. Angelou is “America’s most visible black female autobiographer and speakers” (scholar Joanne M. Braxton). She is known for her speeches, poems, and books, but what stood out to me the most was her 1993 inauguration speech when Bill Clinton was sworn into the White House. Ironically, in her poem “On the Pulse of Morning” Maya Angelou uses clear rhetoric, prehistoric metaphoric images, and inspirational concepts to alert her audience to treat the world differently.
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...oire of poetry with a male personage acting as an opposing force. Her work is full of content hinting at her mental instability, yearning for her deceased father, and her desire to end her life. It can be understood that Plath had a sort of Elektra complex obsession with her father. In her personal life, it caused several suicide attempts (one every decade of her life) and her to seek another male to fill the role of her missing father. It was not until she encountered the poet Ted Hughes that Plath thought she had met her soul mate; it was also because of this fiery relationship that Plath tragically ended her life when she ended her seven-year marriage to Hughes after discovering his illicit affair. Ultimately, in her desperate and distressed state, Plath ended her life; she could not face her inner demons, and no one could truly offer her the support she sought.
What is in the spring of your life if the spring of a life refers to your first twenty years in your life? The Bell Jar, a semi-autobiographical novel by Silvia Plath, describes Esther Greenwood’s harsh spring of her life. Narrating in the first person, Esther tells her experience of a mental breakdown in a descriptive language, helping the readers visualize what she sees and feel her emotions. The novel takes place in New York City and Boston during the early 1950s when women’s roles were limited to domesticity. The repression of women’s roles in the American society during the 1950s and other influences such as her lack of confidence, her hesitance, her mother, and her feminist point of view seem to affect her mental breakdown.
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The meaning of the first stanza is do the things you need to get done because tomorrow the opportunity may not exist. It states this by saying gather rosebuds while you can because that beautiful flower “tomorrow will be dying” (Herrick 385). The next stanza talks about the Sun’s life from dawn to dusk. By describing it’s race against time it is telling a person that there is not much sunlight so make the most of it To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time and Carpe Diem
On January 14th of 1963, Sylvia Plath had finally completed The Bell Jar after approximately two years of writing. This novel could have been considered a partial autobiography, because the main character Esther Greenwood eerily represents Sylvia Plath. There are a number of references to Plath’s real life throughout the book, too many for it to be considered a mere coincidence. Within the story, Esther Greenwood considers and attempts suicide quite frequently. Could this novel have been foreshadowing Sylvia’s death, which took place a little less than a month after?
This poem is a reflection of her feelings during this time period. She use some criticism on the last three lines of the poem. She says “Trepanned veteran,/Dirty girl,/Thumb stump”. She is comparing herself to a “trepanned veteran” who is a survivor of any type of war. She also call herself “dirty girl”. She feels guilty of her behavior knowing that she has two children. To conclude, Plath uses connotation and historical events to make a reflection.
Being recognized as gifted in writing early on, Plath put all of her energy into this subject by becoming editor of her school’s newspaper and submitting over forty five articles to Seventeen Magazine before finally becoming published. Plath was a perfectionist when it came to writing. In college, the intense pressure of trying to maintain her scholarship and perfect grades started to get to her. She even wrote to her mother saying “I have practically considered committing suicide to get out of it [a science course] (qtd. in Malmsheimer 530). She also felt pressured as to what she would do with her life after college. “Her brilliance and accomplishments have no power to lead her to a place in the world. Instead, they drive her out of it” (Allen 400). As noted by Novels for Students, Part of Plath's frustration lay in what she perceived as a choice between becoming a free-spirited poet or choosing the wife/...
This stanza reveals that Plath has finally ridden herself of her father’s control- he is dead now. Plath is most likely represented in the villagers who “never liked” her father and are now “dancing and stamping on him,” rejoicing over his death. She always knew he was a monster and no she is rid of him. Plath has cleansed herself of the domination placed on her by her father and husband. (Giles, 2229)