Essay Comparing Sylvia Plath And Anne Sexton

Saying Sylvia Plath was a troubled woman would be an understatement. She was a dark poet, who attempted suicide many times, was hospitalized in a mental institution, was divorced with two children, and wrote confessional poems about fetuses, reflection, duality, and a female perspective on life. Putting her head in an oven and suffocating was probably the happiest moment in her life, considering she had wanted to die since her early twenties. However, one thing that was somewhat consistent throughout her depressing poetry would be the theme of the female perspective. The poems selected for analysis and comparison are, ”A Life”(1960),”You’re”(1960), “Mirror” (1961), “The Courage of Shutting-Up” (1962) and

Sylvia Plath accomplished great literary achievements throughout her career. As a student and poet, she excelled. Despite this, some may believe that her success and fame only came from the fact that she killed herself and was mad, which is not necessarily the case. If it was only because of her suicide, the novel wouldn’t be acknowledged in as many school curriculums as it is. We can see that in her earlier life, Plath was recognized as a gifted poet much before her struggle with depression. Such as, earning herself a scholarship at a great college and eventually going on to be a guest editor for a magazine in New York. She was able to make so many great opportunities for herself which proves that some of her fame isn’t just about her personal background. Part of her readers are attracted to her works, especially The Bell

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

There are many resemblances between the lives of Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton. Both were raised in New England and wrote most of their works, generally poetry, in the late 20th century, and both committed suicide. Despite the controversy that arises when a great writer commits suicide, the significance and appreciation of both women’s works should not be curtailed. Substantial events occurred in the lives of Plath and Sexton that feasibly impacted their decisions to take their lives. Plath’s father died when she was eight and she suffered from depression for most of her life (Sylvia Plath). In 1962, Plath’s husband, Ted Hughes, left Plath for the woman whom he engaged in an affair with (Sylvia Plath). The next year, Plath committed suicide by suffocating in her gas oven. Similarly, Anne Sexton suffered from depression and had multiple mental breakdowns throughout her life. The first was in 1954, a year after the birth of her child, and she was admitted to a neuropsychiatric hospital (Anne Sexton). She suffered another mental breakdown in 1955, after the birth of her second daughter, and attempted suicide that same year (Anne Sexton). In 1974, Sexton committed suicide by asphyxiation of carbon dioxide in her garage. Despite the similarities of their lives, the tone of their poetry often differed. Sylvia Plath elevated the idea of suicide, while Anne Sexton perceived herself as a coward for such thoughts. In Plath’s poem “Nick and the Candlestick”, Plath searches for her

The two poems, “And One for My Dame” by Anne Sexton and “Daddy” by Sylvia Plath, both explore similar themes through the use of literary elements such as structure, tone and symbolism. Structures in each poem are alike with length but differ with the actual form. The tone Plath conveys is negative one while Sexton’s is more neutral. The symbolism in “Daddy” was also negative with symbols of the devil but Sexton used a nursery rhyme as a symbol. The connotations of these elements reflect the image the daughters had of their fathers but also the relationships. These poems also both deal with the theme of

Sylvia Plath is known as a profound writer, depicted by her lasting works of literature and her suicide which put her poems and novel of debilitating depression into a new perspective. In her poem “Lady Lazarus,” written in 1962, her mental illness is portrayed in a means to convey to her readers the everyday struggle of depression, and how it affects her view of her world, herself, and even those who attempt to tackle her battle with her. This poem, among other poetry pieces and her novel The Bell Jar, identify her multiple suicide attempts, and how the art of dying is something she has become a master of. Plath’s “Lady Lazarus,” about her trap of depression and suicide attempts, is effective and thought provoking because of her allusions to WWII Nazi Germany and the feelings of oppression and Nazism that the recurring images evoke.

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”.

Sylvia Plath displays many themes in her work; however she has the tendency to conceal and dig her themes, metaphors, and symbols deep in her poetic words, which leaves us readers left to decipher them. Plath is a poet that conveys quite compelling emotions through her work and is both prodigious and petrifying while still gloomy and relieving. Though there are many themes to revisit, the more significant ones evident in her writing will be explored. Mortality, journey, depression, and hope are the key themes that strike the heart of Plath’s poetry and will be further analyzed. Poems such as Blackberrying, Crossing the Water, Departure, Suicide off egg Rock, and Mystic, display a very strong

Plath writes about her sadness over her father’s death in “Electra on Azalea Plath” and says “I brought my love to bear, and then, you died. / It was the gangrene ate you to the bone / My mother said; you died like any man.” (“Electra on Azalea Plath, lines 38-40).

It is said that without melancholy there is no art, and there is no better embodiment of that than beloved poet and author, Sylvia Plath. Often referred to as one of the most dynamic poets of the 1900’s, Plath had no limits on her expression through poetry. Her poems ranged from flowing verses on nature to unconventional commentary on the social restrictions placed on individuals. She is most known for her poetic expression of her own mental anguish, never shying away from topics of death and despair.

Sylvia Plath was a gifted writer, poet and verbal artist whose personal anguish and torment visibly manifested itself in her work. Much of her angst stems from her warped relationship with her father. Other factors that influenced her works were her strained views of human sexuality, her sado-masochistic tendencies, self-hatred and her traditional upbringing. She was labeled as a confessional poet and biographical and historical material is absolutely necessary to understand her work.

Immediately upon the passing of Sylvia Plath’s father, Otto Plath, she was deeply mortified. Plath was only eight years old when her father died of pulmonary embolism following an injury complicated by diabetes. After his death, she began writing poetry as an escape from her emotions. Many of Plath’s poems have been influences by experiences from her own life such as the death of her father. Throughout Sylvia Plath’s poem “Daddy,” she uses powerful images to confess her attitudes toward her late father and also toward her husband. “Daddy” has an ironically affectionate title, for this poem is a violent attack on the dead parent. In the poem “Daddy” by Sylvia Plath, she uses metaphors, imagery, and symbolism to represent the holocaust.

Sylvia Plath was a good woman and very gorgeous, one day who fell into a trench of depression, but continues living her life with feelings of depression. In many ways, she was like a grateful, dead flower in the garden. Solitary and pessimistic, she was full of bad intentions where she had attempted suicide many times. She had exemplified herself as a slow horse’s movement, and her writing was full of darkness and gloom due to rational isolation and threatening death. She believed in betrayal, in disappointing everyone around her, in hard work, and in the features of simplicity and multifaceted imageries. Like a death flower, Ms. Plath was also worried about her desolation. At the same time, she was very passionate for death.

Sylvia Plath (1932-1963) and Anne Sexton (1928-1974) both explored similar themes such as tone, structure, and symbolism. Many of their poems were cries for help, which resulted into metal illness, depression, and suicide. In 1958, Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath met, and much to their surprise had a few things in common. They both were fascinated with death and suicide. Both Sexton’s and Plath’s poetry are considered as confessional poetry in which they were very honest, depressed, and had suicidal or homicidal tendencies. Sylvia and Anne’s views on what happened in their life and on independence, are what nearly separates them from other confessional poets. Sexton and Plath’s poetry range over a variety of topics such as death, suicide, rage, and mourning. They both utilize a convincing use of symbolism, deep image, metaphors, and soul-searching. Plath’s “The Colossus”, “Full Fathom Five”, “Daddy”, and Sexton’s “And one for My Dame” and “All My Pretty Ones”, are very enraged and different feminist perspectives, giving different views on the relationships with a father and a husband.

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