Theme Of Death In Sylvia Plath

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.

Sylvia Plath was the first person to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1982,and she is well known for her poems “daddy”. Sadly Plath committed suicide,but before she killed herself she left a note for one of her neighbors to tell them to get a doctor and when they found her she was lying in the oven with wet towels covering the door so her children wouldn't die from the gas to. Plath’s husband Hughes published most of her poems or novels that weren’t published because she had committed suicide at such an early age. It’s because of Hughes publishing her works that she won the Pulitzer Prize in 1982 but she was too late for her to claim it because she was dead 20 something years or so. Plath achieved this from studying with the one and only Robert Lowwell which she made her famous Colossus

Sylvia Plath’s work is marked with her trademark style, one full of enigmatic analogies and ambiguous metaphors. Sadly though, the life of Sylvia Plath was indeed shorter than anyone expected. Nevertheless, in the thirty years Plath meandered through the world, she left an everlasting impact. Remembered as one of the most dynamic and admired poets of the twentieth century, Plath cultivated a literary community unlike any predecessor. Additionally, since a sizable portion of Plath’s work was read posthumously, her suicide brought the much needed attention to physiological illnesses. Unfortunately though, Sylvia Plath will never know the perennial impact she left from her distinguished works that have touched numerous lives.

Sylvia Plath was an American author and poet. Her death at the age of 30 by suicide was the end of her long struggle with mental illness throughout her life, chronicled in her most famous work, her fictional, but inspired by her life novel, The Bell Jar, cited for its feminist themes and exploration of mental illness. Plath is considered one of the greatest poets and novelists of the 20th century, whose works were influenced by her mental illnesses, and still have relevance today.

In Sylvia Plath’s free verse poem, “Daddy,” she describes her hatred towards her deceased father. Plath uses tone, figures of speech, and symbols to illustrate her extreme anger and female protest towards the man that raised her. Sylvia Plath has a dark, bitter tone in “Daddy.” She recalls all the pain that her father has put her through, even after his death.

Sylvia Plath is said to be one the most prodigious, yet interesting, confessional poets of her time. She was an extremely vital poet of the post-World War II time period and expressed her feelings towards her father and husband through her poetry. Plath’s mental illness had a dramatic influence upon her work in which she demonstrated the hatred she had for her father specifically. The poem “Daddy” is an easily applicable example. Within this piece of work, Plath uses direct references to how she feels towards her father who was the greatest influence on her poetry. The bond, or lack of, between Sylvia Plath and her “Daddy” is commonly associated with the purpose of her poetry. Her father died when Plath was only ten years old and

Sylvia Plath’s style has 3 to 5 line stanzas, many poems have short lines, and very descriptive writing and vocabulary, there are many poems with rhyme, and many use punctuation for phrasing of the poems. Many of her poems are confessional poems. Plath often tells stories in a way that readers can relate. She adds rhyme throughout her poems at the right moment and pulls the reader in. Some themes that are reoccurring are emotions, anger, relationships, and death. Her poems reflect her depression and life experiences.

Sylvia Plath was only eight years old when her father died leaving her traumatized and at times emotionally void. She loved her father but hated him for leaving her. In lines 54-67, Sylvia Plath talks about her father’s death. “At twenty I tried to die/ And get back, back, back to you.” (Lines 58-59).

The speaker in the poem “Daddy” is someone who both fiercely hates her father but also passionately loves him. When she was younger, she compared her father to a god-like entity—always looking up to him and constantly seeking his approval. Her fierce hate towards her father stems from the deep rooted fear of him. The speaker is torn between these two polar emotions that have been constantly tormenting her and blames them on her unresolved emotions toward her father. In the first few lines of the poem, the speaker becomes aware that the memory of her father has presented an immense weight on her. Throughout the poem, the speaker makes multiple attempts to rid herself of the thoughts of father and

Plath was a famous American poet; often described as a feminist poet. She was born in Boston, October 27, 1932 and died on February 11, 1963. She had two children but disappeared on them at a young age as she closed the rooms between herself and her children, left them some bread and milk and trapped her head in the oven whilst the gas was turned on. She committed suicide at the age of 30. Sylvia used a wide variety of themes in her poems to express the thoughts that she constantly felt, to express her feelings that she felt no other person could, to tell stories which she went through and poured out all her emotions to let us know she could feel. I will be discussing death / depression as my first theme and victimization / patriarchy as my second: those being apart with her themes, along with her poems.

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.

Plath felt oppressed and stifled by men throughout her life. The first stanza of “Daddy” conveys her feelings of domination by her father:

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