Lady Lazarus, by Sylvia Plath

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,

Attention: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” (Emma Lazarus). This sentence can be found in the poem “The New Colossus,” written by Emma Lazarus in 1883. It can also be found inscribed on the Statue of Liberty towering over the New York Harbor, a bright beacon symbolizing the freedom and democracy we hold so esteemed in America. Immigrants founded the United States and immigrants are arguably who made our nation so great. However, when immigrants do not follow the process to acquire legal citizenship into the United States is when the problems arise.

After reading The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, I have discovered that although both of the books are written about medical ethics within different cultures and both Fadiman and Skloot side with the patients being treated, the two authors have different argumentation styles and ways of building their arguments. Fadiman writes in a Rogerian argumentation style while Skloot is more Aristotelian and Fadiman uses inductive reasoning while Skloot uses deductive reasoning. The only similarity between how the authors make their arguments is that both Fadiman and Skloot commit the red herring logical fallacy. After analyzing the arguments the authors are making and

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.

October 27th in 1932, Sylvia Plath was born, to parents Otto Plath and Aurelia Schober Plath. One of the

Although Plath uses atrocious examples of death and uses the rebirth of Lazarus as the basis of the poem, the underlying tone presented is

Talking about America living up to their so called “promises”, “statements” whatever you want to call it. America has the tendency of not following all the rules or laws that they themselves have created. Between 1877 and 1945 did the United States live up to Emma Lazarus ' poem which is engraved on the Statue of Liberty? While, reading her poem “The New Colossus”, there was a sense that Emma Lazarus believed that the United States of America would had let anyone come into the state no matter of what the person’s situation and/or lifestyle they lived, basically “what happens in their country stays in their country”, America would be a fresh new start of life. The way she viewed America and the way America is viewed by many others upon this earth have some similarities and differences in various of ways. Therefore, her ideas of America being a “gratifying and inviting” place is just a belief comparing it to what this country is actually about, when it comes to the level of patience and actions with we the people and how America reacts. There are nine sources that explains Americas perception and views on certain topics.

The Biblical story of Lazarus is the story of when Jesus brought Lazarus back to life four days after his death. The first line in this poem that brings up the image of the Biblical story is “a sort of walking miracle”, since the raising of Lazarus was considered a miracle of Jesus. When reading the poem for the first time, I definitely felt the dark tone along with the idea that the whole poem was related to death. As I read further in, it was obvious that this woman was speaking about her multiple suicide attempts. The speaker believes that “dying is an art”, and she says she does “it so it feels real”, insinuating that without dying, she will not feel complete or fulfilled. She says that “it’s the theatrical”, meaning she does this for attention,

Sylvia Plath cannot bear the truth and begins to cry; she constantly wants something else to make her feel good about herself, she longs to be young. “I am important to her. She comes and goes. Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness. She goes back to the lake for answers every morning and the lake is pleased to see her. The poem ends by the lake saying “In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish.” This shows Sylvia Plath’s dislike of how old she looks. Sylvia Plath has been looking in this mirror every day for a long period of time, and she is realizing that she is getting older and she cannot do anything about it.

Sylvia Plath was born on October 27, 1932 in Boston. Some say that The Bell Jar is a semi- autobiographical novel because Esther and Sylvia share many of the

    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."

Not all poems fall into the category of epic poetry or ballads. Some pieces are short and concise rather than lengthy and elegant. A shorter poem may focus more thoroughly on diction, or the author’s specific choice of words, rather than things such as rhyme scheme or meter. Langston Hughes poem “Suicide’s Note” is a perfect example of this. Because it is only twelve words long, every single word is important and chosen carefully. This poem uses many literary techniques, none more than diction, to achieve its purpose. which is to focus on the split-second decision that is suicide.

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

Esther Greenwood, the main character, is the most obvious comparison to Sylvia Plath herself. Esther is a troubled girl who is gifted with intelligence and scholarships to fancy schools and opportunities, but still finds herself in a pit of depression she can’t crawl out of. Both Esther and Sylvia are extremely intelligent, Sylvia being gifted with an IQ of 160. Sylvia shows her descent into depression through Esther, gradually getting worse and worse as she goes through college and realizes she has no idea what to do with her life.

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