Comparative Analysis of Ariel by Sylvia Plath and The whitsun Weddings by Phillip Larkin

Marriage is an important part of life of many modern societies. The institution of marriage was formed many centuries ago. While some of its aspects vary based on specific country or community, but the core is often the same – by contracting a marriage, both sides undertake specific commitments. Specifically, they promise to care about children that already exist or will appear in the family; or to be faithful to the partner. There is a serious problem with the second issue. Adultery is an event that was often mentioned by popular literature sources including the Bible. The poetry is not an exception. James Dickey and Anne Sexton focused on the topic in their poems “Adultery” and “For My Lover, Returning to His Wife” respectively. Authors described the theme from different points of view. Dickey highlights the considerable age of the practice and treats it as an inevitable evil. The adultery existed, exist and will continue to exist in the community. Sexton looks at the problem from the female point of view; her poem is written from the

He describes the dresses and the cheep fabrics of “nylon” and fake colours “lemons mauves and olives” and from the way he uses foods can be interpreted to have a significant symbolic meaning in the sense that these organic foods become out of date in time, which could be suggesting he has a bitter opinion on marriage that it will soon become dull over time and never last. In the penultimate stanza he writes how “none thought of the others they would never meet or how their lives would all contain this hour” he really expresses Larkin’s view on marriage and commitment, as he appears to feel that marriage limits chances and options it also raises the question as to whether he feared marriage and the change it could have on his life and freedom. This would suggest that as opposed to hating marriage Larkin merely feared it. The line “ sun destroys the interest of what’s happening in the shade” metaphorically could be interpreted to show how fabulous display of a wedding can “destroy” or distract what happened out of view from the public like the stress, disputes and reality of faults in the relationship. The imagery of the sun also creates a bright beautiful link with weddings that people see on the surface juxtaposed with the reality of dullness as the years go on.

In ridiculing the common enhancements of matrimony, by extension Harwood is lampooning the traditions that surround it. Harwood herself rips away any of the reader’s previous expectations of a ‘white wedding’. The love behind the couple is poisoned with sex, the woman’s self is dismantled and lost. The very wedding dress, an outfit in the fantasies of girls, creates an unpleasant “icy spectre”. Now in the core of the ceremony Harwood is highlighting how ugly it all is; the bride is as disgusting as the beastly groom and the matrimony’s loveliness is as “unreal” as the woman’s head.

When examining both Robert Browning’s, My Last Duchess, and Charlotte Mew’s, The Farmers Bride, the reader witnesses the poems positions of marriage in the natural world. Within both works, it is quite evident how each relationship is vastly different from the modern world, yet parallel it at the same time. Whether it be: the interactions between the two people or the conditions of the marriage, it is made more than apparent that both can be applied to modern conceptualizations of marriage.

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”.

The poem entitled `The Whitsun Weddings` is an observational piece by Larkin when he was travelling from Hull to London by train. The poem has seven stanzas and is is typical of Larkin. The words are simple, the emotions are blunted and the

This essay will be exploring the use of language and imagery in the poem ‘Valentine’ by Carol Ann Duffy to emphasise certain emotions within the text. This poem refers to the dark side of love and relationships several times, for example; “Its fierce kiss will stay on your lips.” This creates a different atmosphere to the stereotypical love poems, which are known for their mention of red roses and satin hearts. Although the title gives us an impression of a cliché-filled poem, as we continue reading, the poem seems like more of a warning than an encouragement to involve oneself in relationships and commitment,

Death is the major speaker of this poem, its persona shows how cruel and violent it can be, however she also speaks of getting everything out of life you can before death. Starting with line twenty three of the poem she begins talking about living a full life before death, "When it 's over, I want to say all my life/I was a bride married to amazement/I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms." (23-25). Being a bride married to amazement is a comparison to commitment, being with the same person every day. However in this case with a lifestyle instead. Doing amazing and memorable things every possible day you can, not letting life pass you by. This also fits perfectly with the next few lines

Both of Larkin’s poems explore the loss of identity however they do so in different contexts. ‘Afternoons’ depicts the continuation of life and subsequent passing of time through illustration of changing roles from a relatively carefree character to a young mother who must fully adopt this new identity and the life changes the title entails. ‘The leaves fall in ones and twos’ is representative of the gradual nature of this changing identity which contrasts to the relatively significant transition the young mother experiences. However ‘leaves’ is use of natural imagery therefore suggesting this shift of priorities to becoming a mother is hardly a rare, dramatic occurrence. ‘Our Wedding,

In both pieces the tone was contemptuous because the people were very careless with love.. In the poem “someones married their everyones” (line 17) shows us the readers that again they were careless/ scornful of who they married. In addition, both pieces also had respect toward

Through the poetry collections ‘The Whitsun Weddings’ and ‘Mean Time’, it can be inferred that the poets’ contemplations on the modern world are similar to how Enright describes The Movement, being about an ‘honesty of thought and feeling’. This comparison can be made between the two poets due to their poetry often being written with ‘a yearning for the past’ (Katherine Viner) mainly linked to place and time for example, which can be observed in Larkin’s poem ‘Here’ and Duffy’s poem ‘Before You Were Mine’. This ‘yearning for the past’ often shows their feelings on the modern world to be pessimistic and cynical, showing the theme of isolation, such as in Duffy’s ‘Captain of the 1964 Top of the Form Team’. However, it can be argued that their

The poem narrates the story with comic implications primarily in the way that which the central character’s life is displayed. As a “brilliant” (1) young woman, she has learned to embrace many materialistic values, such as the “cultured jargon” (line 5) of jewelers, and the ability to start conversation. She even abandons her education and goes abroad and “learned to tell real Wedgwood from a fraud” (12). The repeated use of the word “ideal” (15-16) leads the word to lose its impact, and represents the foreshadowing of the woman’s loss of opportunity. The real comic elements in the poem are found in the irony of how she was gifted and had this “ideal” marriage which wasn’t really so “ideal” at all. However, underlying all of the accomplishments

Although everyone has a father, the relationship that each person has with his or her father is different. Some are close to their fathers, while some are distant; some children adore their fathers, while other children despise them. For example, in Robert Hayden’s poem “Those Winter Sundays” Hayden writes about his regret that he did not show his love for his hardworking father sooner. In Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy,” she writes about her hatred for her brute father. Despite both authors writing on the same topic, the two pieces are remarkably different. Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy” and Robert Hayden’s “Those Winter Sundays” have different themes that are assembled when the authors put their different uses of imagery, tone, and characterization together.

Sylvia’s Plath’s “Metaphors” is about a woman feeling insignificant during the midst of her pregnancy. Striking imagery is used to explore the narrator’s attitudes about having a child. Plath uses metaphors in every line, including the title itself, making the poem a collection of clues. The reader is teasingly challenged to figure out these clues, realising that the metaphors have

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