Sylvia Plath’s father died when she was eight years old due to complications of diabetes (Steinberg 2007). He is already dead; Sylvia Plath wrote this poem when she was 30, but in stanza 2 she says “Daddy, I have had to kill you. / You died before I had time—“(lines 6-7). What she is killing is the memories of him; he died too early and has caused a great amount of grief. This poem is angry, perhaps because he left her when he died while she was so young. Throughout the poem Sylvia Plath uses words like “achoo” and “gobbledygoo” giving the poem a childish feel, as it uses these themes of the Holocaust and vampires, adding a contrast. The poem also has an irregular rhyme scheme using the “oo” sound. There is no evidence from sources that Sylvia Plath’s father was ever abusive to her, so one can conclude that the loss was so immense, and caused so much pain, that it was like if she was being tormented.…
The woman in “Mirror” is uncertain about her appearance and struggles to accept the reality that she is aging while the mother in “In the Park” struggles with her pitiful existence. The woman’s dialogue with an ex-love, for whom it was “too late to feign indifference”, is in genuine because she does not believe that “time holds great surprises” but instead, her pretence is a way of masking a painful truth. Plath’s poem, however, sees lies revealed in the second stanza when the function of the mirror changes and the woman looks into its “reaches for what she really is”. When the mirror’s reflection reveals her truth, she rewards it with “and agitation of hands and tears”.…
“Elm”, written about her toxic marriage to poet Ted Hughes, mainly focuses on her struggle to recover from her husband’s infidelity. However, much like many of Plath’s other pieces, elements of the poem can be interpreted as referring to her ongoing battle with depression. A prime example of Plath’s writing that can be interpreted in different ways is the line “I am terrified by this dark thing/ That sleeps in me” (“Elm” 31-32). Many choose to interpret this dark thing as her remaining love for her husband. Since the idea of love directly correlates to the overall theme of the poem, this is a popular interpretation of what the “dark thing” is referring to. However, considering Plath’s mental state at the time of writing, it can also be argued that the dark thing “sleeping” inside her is more likely the personification of her depression. Other lines in Sylvia Plath’s “Elm” reference both her heartbreak and her depression at the same time. Plath writes, “I have suffered the atrocity of sunsets”(16). By this, she means that she has had to suffer through the horrific ends of beautiful experiences. The most obvious of these beautiful sunsets that ended tragically is Plath’s marriage to Hughes. This metaphor can apply to more than just her relationship, however. It can also be applied to her life. Plath’s early life was, for…
Perhaps the first thought to mind when the name Sylvia Plath is mentioned is pure ironic tragedy. What a destructive death for a woman with a seemingly jubilant life. It is know to most that she was a poet and author beyond her time, beaming with creativity and writing poetry in her early teen years. However, with longing for fame struck the bittersweet reality of holding the title for the most unfortunate life. How can it be, that a woman struck by dire occurrences, leave such an incredible mark in the guest book of all great authors and poets? It seems to be true that many a melancholy poet, tend to be of the male gender; at least those who are greatly remembered and studied. So why is Plath one…
Steven Gould Axelrod is an expert in nineteenth and twentieth-century American poetry, and his book “Sylvia Plath: The Wound and the Cure of Words” was published in 1990. Sylvia Plath was an American poet, born in 1932, and died in 1963 when she committed suicide. I totally agreed with Steven Gould Axelrod’s idea in this book, especially when he said that the poem “Daddy,” Sylvia’s most famous poem – is dramatic and allegorical. At the beginning of the book, Axelrod mostly focused on Sylvia’s life and how “Daddy” was brought into the world, then in the middle of the book, he compared how Sylvia described her father in her two poets, “Daddy” and “The Colossus,” and at the end, he continued to compare the figure “I” in “Daddy” and “The Colossus,” Sylvia herself identity.…
Hughes who was a poet himself was less known for his work and known more for his affairs. She was often compared to his other women, even in her death was her name still used in vain of his mistakes. Ted Hughes was sleeping with other poets, the most infamous was Assia Wevill who sadly also killed herself and the daughter she and Ted Hughes had the same way Sylvia herself ended her life. For a long time till this day Sylvia Plath is labeled as a depressed artist and Assia as the mistress. Ted Hughes tarnished two careers that women worked so hard to built. To say that Sylvia Plath’s sadness came from the affair would be ignorant to ignore the fact that Plath was battling an inner demon of mental illness almost all her life. Ted Hughes wrote in his collection called Birthday Letters. "Fame cannot be avoided. And when it comes / you will have paid for it with your happiness, / your husband and your life." As to blame her suicide on her face, the one thing she worked so hard to build was the thing to destroy her. Ted Hughes is obviously wrong and oblivious that Plath’s success was her voice, that she I believe even in her death wouldn’t want anyone or any man to speak for her, she let her literature do that for…
“Dying is an art, like everything. I do it exceptionally well. I do it so it feels like hell. I do it so it feels real. I guess you could say I’ve a call” – Sylvia Plath. Sylvia Plath was born in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts on October 27th, 1932 and died in London, United Kingdom on February 11th, 1963 at the age of 31 years old. Sylvia is well known for her astonishing poem such as “The Bell Jar” and “Daddy”. Her parents were Aurelia Schober, who was a student at Boston University and Otto Plath, who happened to be Aurelia Schober’s professor at the time (Academy of American Poets). “In 1940, when Plath was eight years old, her father died as a result of complications from diabetes. He had been a strict father, and both his authoritarian attitudes and his death drastically defined her relationships and her poems—most notably in her elegiac and infamous poem "Daddy."” (Academy of American Poets).…
Plath 's poetry is full of symbols and allusions cryptic to those unfamiliar with her biography, so it is necessary to begin any analysis of her work with a brief account of her life. Sylvia Plath was born on October 27, 1932 near Boston and for much of her childhood lived near the sea, which finds its way into many of her poetic images (Barnard 14). Her father, Otto Emil Plath, was an immigrant from Germany and her mother, Aurelia Schober, a second generation Austrian American (Barnard 13). Allusions to her German heritage and to World War Two era Europe abound in her work.…
The end of World War One transitioning into the great depression would make for an unlikely time for two European descendants to birth one of the most highly influential poets of their time. October 27, 1932 would mark the day that Otto Plath and Aurelia Plath had become the parents of this astounding poet Sylvia Plath. The relationships that she would begin to form with her parents from such a young age would be a unique and complicated tale. Reflections of Sylvia’s upbringing in these unique times would be shown throughout many outlets of hers including her personal life and demeanor as well as her relationships and most of all her poetry. The works of Sylvia Plath have often been described as confessional…
Sylvia Plath was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. Born in Boston, she studied at Smith College and Newnham College at the University of Cambridge before receiving acclaim as a poet and writer. She was married to fellow poet Ted Hughes from 1956 until they separated in September 1962. They lived together in the United States and then England and had two children, Frieda and Nicholas. Plath was clinically depressed for most of her adult life. She died by suicide in 1963. Plath is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry and is best known for her two published collections, The Colossus and Other Poems, and Ariel. She also wrote The Bell Jar, a semi-autobiographical novel published shortly before her death. In…
In Initiation by Sylvia Plath, the author suggests that conformity and having friends is a wonderful idea, yet the idea of having an individual identity and being an individual is stronger. In the excerpt, Millicent is slowly realizing that conforming and being a part of a sorority is not as exciting as it sounds, and being an individual offers more opportunities to become a unique person.…
Plath uses her poems to explore her own mental suffering, her troubled marriage to poet Ted Hughes, her unresolved conflicts with her parents, and the vision she has of herself. Plath utilises personification, and complex imagery to express her major themes concerning the unfair oppression of women, nature’s…
Poem and Poetry Research Paper “Dying is an art, like everything. I do it exceptionally well. I do it so it feels like hell. I do it so it feels real. I guess you could say I’ve a call” – Sylvia Plath.…
Ted Hughes’ ‘Birthday Letters’ is an anthology of poems which cover his personal view of his relationship with his first wife Sylvia Plath, a well-known poet, who’s most influential works were released in ‘Ariel’ and ‘the Bell jar’.( posthumously after her 1963 suicide) .The poems of Birthday Letters explore contradictory perspectives two of Hughes’ poems ‘The Shot’ and ‘The Minotaur’ which are significant as they delve deeply into his perspective of Plath, their relationship and private moments between the two. The 2003 film ‘Sylvia’, directed by Christine Jeff’s and is based on Plath’s own perspective. The use of slow rhythmic music (non-digetic sound) and a voice over presentive of Plath which positions , teamed with Sylvia’s hidden insecurities. Which are revealed in depth and persuade the audience to empathise with her thus contrasting with Hughes view.…
Aurelia, Sylvia’s mother, was a student at Boston University. She met Sylvia’s father, Otto Plath, he was her professor. Her parents got married in January of 1932. In 1940, Plath was eight years old, her father died as a result of complications from diabetes. Her father’s strict attitudes and his death drastically defined her poems, especially in her infamous poem “daddy” (“Sylvia Plath”). “ Daddy, I have had to kill you. You died before I had time--” (“Sylvia Plath”). These two lines in her poem “daddy” express how much it hurt when her father passed away. Her relationship with her father was strong and they were extremely close.…