Analysis Of Cut By Sylvia Plath

Joan D. Vinge once said, “We are all born with a unique genetic blueprint, which lays out the basic characteristics of our personality as well as our physical health and appearance... And yet, we all know that life experiences do change us.” In the short story, “Initiation,” by Sylvia Plath, Millicent, a teenage girl whom is being initiated into a high school sorority must go five days doing what their sorority big sister commands them to do. While being initiated, Millicent starts to realize that while being part of a group that she’s been longing to be apart of is great, being an individual and creating yourself makes you more unique than those who are part of a group. Having individuality allows you to be more free, and makes you more memorable to those around you.

In the short story “Initiation” by Sylvia Plath, Millicent Arnold is a narcissistic teenager undergoing her initiation into the most prestige social group at Lansing High. Despite being aware of the risk at losing her best friend, Tracy, Millicent eagerly seeks the opportunity to be part of a close-knit group and as a result, she is mistreated and forced to conform to the group’s narrow standards. Plath explains how being part of a social group does not necessarily help one grow individually, but rather assimilates them into what is portrayed as esteemed social status. As Millicent goes through the downgrading initiation process, she discovers the value of friendship and realizes that being associated with a certain group will not help her achieve confidence in her true self.

Poets, Judith Wright, Sylvia Plath and Emily Dickenson all express their views on life and death, however, do so in varying manners. Through imagery, Wright and Plath both consider life’s beginnings, however, Wright considers it to be a beautiful gift, whereas Plath views birth as an empty burden. Subsequently, through structure Dickenson and Wright each acknowledge life, expressing how in some cases it is difficult, yet in other circumstances it is celebrated. Finally, through tone, Dickenson and Plath convey their views on death, yet differ in that Plath believes it is purifying and holds a sick fascination with it, while Dickenson instead holds a unique curiosity about it. Therefore, whilst each poet recognises the journey of birth,

The last two stanzas are the darkest, and ultimately appear to put some type of closure on Plath’s life. She obviously believes that she killed her father when she was ten years old, stating that “if I’ve killed one man, I’ve killed

Sylvia Plath was a troubled writer to say the least, not only did she endure the loss of her father a young age but she later on “attempted suicide at her home and was hospitalized, where she underwent psychiatric treatment” for her depression (Dunn). Writing primarily as a poet, she only ever wrote a single novel, The Bell Jar. This fictional autobiography “[chronicles] the circumstances of her mental collapse and subsequent suicide attempt” but from the viewpoint of the fictional protagonist, Esther Greenwood, who suffers the same loss and challenges as Plath (Allen 890). Due to the novel’s strong resemblance to Plath’s own history it was published under the pseudonym “Victoria Lucas”. In The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath expresses the

The darkness of the start of the poem is later contrasted with words such as ‘white’, ‘wheat’ and ‘glitter’. Plath states, ‘I unpeel… dead hands, dead stringencies’, meaning that she is breaking free of her conscious unimaginative self, and connecting with her creative sub conscience. She emphasises how quickly she is extricating herself and hurdling towards artistic creativity with the imagery of an ‘arrow’. She also describes herself as ‘the dew that flies suicidal’, implying that her conscious self has died and surrendered to creativity.

In her poem, “Lady Lazarus,” Sylvia Plath uses dark imagery, disturbing diction, and allusions to shameful historical happenings to create a unique and morbid tone that reflects the necessity of life and death. Although the imagery and diction and allusions are all dark and dreary, it seems that the speaker’s attitude towards death is positive. The speaker longs for death, and despises the fact the she is continually raised up out of it.

    The Ariel-period poems of Sylvia Plath demonstrate her desire for rebirth, to escape the body that was "drummed into use" by men and society. I will illustrate the different types of rebirth with examples from the Ariel poems, including "Lady Lazarus," "Fever 103," "Getting There," and "Cut."

In ‘The Minotaur’ Hughes showcases the ambiguity of emotion in both Plath and himself as he disproves critics that he is the sole driving force of her suicide. In the first two stanzas Hughes removes blame from himself as he recounts an argument from his previously unheard of perspective, as the victim of Plath’s rage and violence. T- this is depicted with aggressive verbs -E- of “smashed” “swung” and “demented” and his own justification “demented by my being 20 minutes late” uses enjambment -E- to cause disruption in the rhythm of the poem, just like the argument.T- The visual symbolism of Plath smashing his mother’s heirloom sideboard E- transcends the action itself as Plath consciously chooses the the item E- “mapped with the scars of my

Sylvia Plath’s life was one of a troubled woman. Her lack of sanity was deeply reflected in her works of writing. Her mental state was very much affected by her life experiences such as her feelings of betrayal towards her father and her instable marriage to Ted Hughes. Plath’s poetry, was a way to explore her mental anguish and share her fixation with death, due to her deathly depression. Despite Sylvia Plath’s crippling life, her poetry was constructed in such an artistic manner in which it touched the lives of many

Wrapped in gaseous mystique, Sylvia Plath’s poetry has haunted enthusiastic readers since immediately after her death in February, 1963. Like her eyes, her words are sharp, apt tools which brand her message on the brains and hearts of her readers. With each reading, she initiates them forever into the shrouded, vestal clan of her own mind. How is the reader to interpret those singeing, singing words? Her work may be read as a lone monument, with no ties to the world she left behind. But in doing so, the reader merely grazes the surface of her rich poetics. Her poetry is largely autobiographical, particularly Ariel and The Bell Jar, and it is from this frame of mind that the reader interprets the work as a

Sylvia Plath’s poetry is well known for its deeply personal and emotional subject matter. Much of Plath’s poetry is confessional and divulges the most intimate parts of her psyche whether through metaphor or openly, without creating a persona through which to project her feelings, and through the use of intense imagery. Plath’s attempt to purge herself of the oppressive male figures in her life is one such deeply personal and fundamental theme in her poetry. In her poem, “Daddy”, which declares her hatred for her father and husband, this attempt is expressed through language, structure, and tone. (Perkins, 591)

Sylvia Plath, a great American author, focuses mostly on actual experiences. Plath’s poetry displays feelings and emotions. Plath had the ability to transform everyday happenings into poems or diary entries. Plath had a passion for poetry and her work was valued. She was inspired by novelists and her own skills. Her poetry was also very important to readers and critics. Sylvia Plath’s work shows change throughout her lifetime, relates to feelings and emotions, and focuses on day to day experiences.

In the poem Plath is showing her hatred for her father. Plath uses tone to describes her strict, heartless father, but also describes him as “no less a devil” desperate to disremember him. Plath also uses Symbolism to show the distastes she has for her father. In the Poem she compares her father to Hitler stating “I have always been afraid of you, with your Luftwaffe, your gobbledygoo . And your neat mustache and your Aryan eye, bright blue. Panzer-man, panzer-man” (41-45). This shows that her father was an authoritarian who showed little to no feeling and love toward her. Another example of symbolism is when Plath compares herself to a Jew. She was explaining that her life was like she was in a concentration camp “chuffing me like a Jew. A Jew to Dachau, Auschwitz, Belsen. I began talking like a Jew, I think that I might as well be a Jew” (32-34).

Almost similar to “Edge”, “Cut” is one of Plath’s collections that contain bright metaphors of death things. It conveys the idea of a woman who cut her thumb when setting meal in the kitchen rather than the onion that she will be used for cooking. In this poem, Plath expressed the idea of an insurgent in life.