Tulips and Cut by Sylvia Plath

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

When it comes to Sylvia Plath there is no shortage of opinions regarding her work. It is no wonder then because her death was surrounded in blame and innuendo, her collections of poetry was also left open for debate as to its meaning, especially with her collection of poetry titled Ariel. Published posthumously by her husband Ted Hughes, her intentions and sentiments regarding her work were never voiced. Add to that the fact that he was the subject in some of the poems only fueled accusations that he was not the best candidate to manage her collections and work. There is no doubt however, that the poems within Ariel gave a voice, form and fuel to the rising feminist movement. It was shortly

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.

Sylvia Plath, a successful confessional style poet, struggled throughout her life with issues revolving around her father’s death, unsuccessful and unfulfilling relationships with men, and her mental illnesses. Throughout her struggles, Plath wrote, sometimes writing as much as 10 drafts a day. Despite welcoming into the world two children, whom she loved dearly, Plath still felt unfulfilled by her duties as a housewife. As she wrote more poems, it became clear she was unhappy in her life and in the grips of a serious mental illness. Sylvia Plath’s writing is deeply influenced by her experience with mental illness and the death of her father in her early life.

Both Judith Wright and Sylvia Plath explore different feminist views in their poetry in order to highlight the freedom that comes with the empowerment of women and the escapement from the boundaries of social expectations. Wright uses stylistic devices such as punctuation, oxymoron, metaphor, and personification to discuss the insecurities she has with her body in her poem ‘Naked Girl and Mirror’. The oxymoron, “I see you are lovely, hateful naked girl”, depicts the internal struggle she deals with that centres on her self-image. The world has metaphorically detached Wright’s mind from her body and this encourages her to write with a more feminist view in order to remind her listeners that she has a soul and her gender is not all she is.

Sylvia Plath's poems evoke the worst of subjective fallacies. Probably some of our charged reactions are symptomatic of the times and the culture; but more of them seem to stem from the always-too-easy identification between troubled poet and what might be the tone of imagery and rhythm of the poem considered. Because Plath worked so intensively in archetypal imagery (water, air, fire as bases for image patterns, for example), many of her poems could be read as either "dark" wasteland kinds of expressions, or as the reverse, as death-by-water, salvation poems--destruction implied, but also survived, phoenix-like.

Sylvia Plath’s and Theodore Roethke’s brutal honesty in their writing plainly conveys their individual demons. Not only was each author dealing with their own emotional issues (Plath’s mental illness and Rotheke’s abusive father), they were both living out their lives during uncertain and tumultuous times (World War II and the Great Depression); the torment in their lives manifests in their writing. Sylvia Plath expresses her self-loathing in her poem “Metaphors” by describing her pregnant body in colorful, self-deprecating metaphors (234.) Her poem culminates with the line “Boarded the train there’s no getting off,” which can obviously refer to her pregnancy culminating in the birth of a child but may also refer to the endless pain of her

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

The works of Sylvia Plath have always been at least slightly controversial; most of them have themes of feminism, suicide, or depression. Plath was born in 1932 in Boston, Massachusetts, and by the age of twelve she was reported to have had an IQ of about 160 (Kelly). Growing up in an age in which women were expected to be nothing more than conservative housemaids, Plath stood defiant against the views of society, choosing to expose any misogynistic prejudices or hateful prospects against mental illness through her writings (Allen).

Sylvia Plath and Patricia Lockwood both deal with issues of gender and sexuality in their work. Each poet strongly believes in the equal opportunity of both sexes. Plath uses excessive gender roles in her poems due to the death of her father and her painful divorce from her husband. Plath disagrees with the common idea of womanhood to be strictly reproduction and gratification. She views herself and all other women as entities of individual people.

Sylvia Plath’s rather depressing story begins in Boston, Massachusetts October 27, 1932, the day Aurelia Plath gave birth to her. In the span of Plath's life she constantly suffers from depression which eventually leads to her brutal suicide on February 11, 1963. Sylvia began writing poetry a young age and continued to write throughout her life, earning herself many awards, even some after her death (Bio.com). During the time in which Plath was working for Mademoiselle magazine, in 1953, she tried to kill herself for the first time. Plath recovered shortly from the traumatic incident over her first suicide attempt while receiving treatment from a mental health facility. Soon after, Sylvia started studying at Cambridge University, where she

By just reading Sylvia Plath’s works of writing, it is apparent that she had an infatuation with portraying negative and brutal thoughts. For example, her poem “Daddy,” she clearly expresses her rage towards her deceased father. The poem is full of contradiction and the interpretation is up the reader. Pieces like this gives insight into Sylvia’s mental sanity, which was questioned at times. In her early

Ted Hughes and Anne Sexton used their shared experience of knowing Sylvia to further express their own feelings on her suicide. Frieda Hughes’ poem lacks this tone due to her different life experience with her mother. Frieda’s experience with her mother and her mother’s death comes from what she has observed and read. Whereas Anne Sexton and Ted Hughes had direct interaction with Sylvia Plath and were able to write based on their interactions. Ted Hughes and Anne Sexton seem to have the deepest understanding of the darkest parts of Sylvia Plath’s personality, which are relayed in their 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.

Sylvia Plath was a troubled young poet who wrote mostly about the difficulties within her family and marriage. Plath was born in Boston, Massachusetts on October 27, 1932 and died on February 11, 1963 in London, England. In her early life she faced many obstacles, one being her father passing away when she was only 8 years old due to complications from diabetes (poets.org). Plath, herself struggled with depression as she tried to kill herself many times. Therefore these feelings of hers reflected in her poetry. Having a high expectation to be perfect, Plath’s depression was often a result of writers block (PAL).Plath’s poems continued to encourage her large audience of readers who were facing the same issues with depression and other struggles.(Poetry Foundation). Plath was a loving wife to Ted Hughes and later a wonderful mother to her two children (poets.org). Plath gave birth to two children in 1960 and 1962, Frieda and Nicholas Hughes (poets.org). Also in 1962 her husband, Hughes left her for another women,