Analysis Of Lady Lazarus By Sylvia Plath

In the short story “Initiation” by Sylvia Plath, the protagonist Millicent, a girl at Lansing High School is being tried as a member of an elite sorority. The girls must go through a week of being an older sister’s servant to be then tried on Friday at Rat Court. Only the most popular girls are accepted into the sorority. These popular girls are also the ones who get the most, popular boyfriends. Everything seems like a dream to Millicent except for the fact that her best friend Tracy wasn’t even considered. Although she wants to belong in the sorority, Millicent finds out that things might not be as perfect as they seem. In “Initiation” by Sylvia Plath, the author uses the point of view third person omniscient to allow the reader to

America stands as the most prominent nation of liberty and freedom for all, yet some people still feel the reins of America’s oppressive past. Those include young African Americans and women, who feel that society places unequal expectations on them, simply based on their gender or race. Two young, American writers, Sylvia Plath and Langston Hughes especially feel this way through their works, Sylvia Plath at Seventeen and Theme for English B. Plath and Hughes employ tone, tone shift, and parallelism throughout their works to convey their message that young adults must stand up to demoralizing social expectations.

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.

It tends to be the trend for women who have had traumatic childhoods to be attracted to men who epitomize their emptiness felt as children. Women who have had unaffectionate or absent fathers, adulterous husbands or boyfriends, or relatives who molested them seem to become involved in relationships with men who, instead of being the opposite of the “monsters” in their lives, are the exact replicas of these ugly men. Sylvia Plath’s poem “Daddy” is a perfect example of this unfortunate trend. In this poem, she speaks directly to her dead father and her husband who has been cheating on her, as the poem so indicates.

In 1963 on a cold winter day of February 11th, Sylvia Plath ended her life. She had plugged up her kitchen, sealing up the cracks in doors and windows before she was found with her head inside of her gas oven inhaling the dangerous fumes. She was only thirty years old, a young woman with two small children and an estranged ex-husband. A tragic detail of her life is that this is the second time she had tried to commit suicide. Plagued with mental illness her whole life, which is evident within her poetry. She would write gripping, honest portrayals of mental illnesses. Especially within Ariel, the last poetry book she wrote, right before she took her life. Although it’s hard to find a proper diagnosis for Sylvia Plath, it is almost definite that she at least had clinical depression with her numerous suicide attempts and stays in mental hospitals undergoing electroshock therapy. Sylvia Plath is now famously known for her writing and the more tragic parts of her life. Such as the separation from her husband, Ted Hughes, mental illness, etc… Plath may not have intended for her life and art to become inspiration to many people but that has become the end result. Sylvia Plath writing shows symptoms of her suicidal thoughts. To study specific moments in Sylvia Plath’s life, it can be connected to certain writing’s of her’s, such as “Daddy”, The Bell Jar, and “Lady Lazarus”.

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.

There are several ways to look at the poem, Lady Lazarus and one of those ways is that it could be looked at suicide and also about someone who is obviously emotionally troubled with this self-fulfilling satisfaction in killing herself. It’s like a prophecy that needs to be fulfilled and she does so every so often; at least every decade. Also, the poem could be said to be about someone with a severe mental disorder which explains the radical behavior of the suicidal attempts every now and then and she takes pleasure in doing so.

    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 Lady Lazarus by Sylvia Plath, the speaker addresses the subject of death and how others perceive death different ways. By applying form and symbolism, the speaker explains how some people need to experience death in order to really live. The poems structure consists of stanzas that have three lines called tercets. The tercets are made up of short, chopped lines with a mix of end-stopped lines and enjambment.

As a result, Plath wants retribution. The last stanza of the poem clearly displays her desire to avenge what she perceives to be a slight on her humanity by stating that she will, once again, rise from the dead and “eat men like air” (line 84). This irreverent attitude towards her own end showcases the theme of suicidal thoughts or

Thanks for the appreciation, Kevin. In my opinion, referring to Nazism, the author somehow wants to justify suicide as if pushing her to such extreme act was the cruelty of a world she finds untenable. Also, I believe, Plath wants to extend the concept of universal suffering. In other words, the reference to the Holocaust is a metaphor referring to the dark night of the soul, which is used to describe what could be termed a deep sense of meaninglessness into one's life. The state of deep suffering of the author may find its root in the illness that has afflicted her throughout her life called bipolar disorder --defined by periods of depression and also durations of elevated state of

This excerpt comes from the poem “Lady Lazarus” by Sylvia Plath, one of the most famous – and infamous – poets of the 20th century. Many of Plath’s poems, such as this one, belong to a particular school of poetry known as Confessional Poetry. With a distinct style all their own, Plath and her fellow Confessional poets will be forever remembered for their brutal honesty, emotionality, and the personal quality of their poems.

How Sylvia Plath's Life is Reflected in the Poems Daddy, Morning Song, and Lady Lazarus

‘Morning song’ by Sylvia Plath describes the birth, early stages of childhood and the sentimental value of a child in a very unique way. This poem was wrote from Sylvia Plath’s own experience of child birth, it can also be related to by parents, it could be thought it is aimed mainly at females as this poem is quite feminine. This eighteen line lyrics is structured in 3 line stanzas which are called tersest. It is a tender poem and the overall tone of it is quite mellow.

Some of the dark negative emotions Sylvia Plath shares in this poem can make anyone have sympathy on her feelings. Especially, when she writes,