"Sylvia Plath- Feminine Side of the Feminist Icon" Essay

Plath’s own brush and anguish with barrenness didn’t last too much long. Shortly after the skillful diagnosis of a doctor’s temporarily infertility she became pregnant with Frieda. Apparently Plath’s joy in producing children was evident and the effect on her sense of well being was considerable. After the birth of her first child she wrote: “I think having babies is one of the happiest experiences of my life. I would like to go on and on!” In motherhood Kate Moses argues Plath’s core ambition and deep calling. Moses also points out that in her “cow heavy” state Hughes writes, “That was the you, Plath could not suppress the exuberant joy she felt at being a mother and wrote a letter to her mother in joy “ I’m going to have all my babies at home; I’ve loved every moment of this

These lines are frightening, but unfortunately real. Plath tells us that she has married someone exactly like her father, a man who has a “my struggle” look, a German look. The third line above seems to mean that her husband, who was poet Ted Hughes, cheated on her, in turn abandoning her. But she still said “I do” and agreed to be with him.

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.

After the affair Plath grew increasingly depressed and eventually committed suicide. He said that “Plaths death was inevitable, she had been on that track most of her life,” but he could not contend with the additional suicide of Wevill in 1969, which he said was “utterly within her power, and it was an outcome of her reaction to Sylvia’s action,” which led to Wevill’s suicide.” These past horrific experiences strongly affected Hughes future relationships and poetry.

• Does her poetry and her personal life reflect the theory of feminism or in another word does Sylvia is a feminist writer ?

In Plath's point of view, the reason virginity is given the meaning it is today, is due to the fact that virginity is declared sacred and pledged to sexual abstinence in the name of all that is holy. This underlines her faith in a woman's role as a partner in marriage, as a wife, mother, daughter especially in a family. She thinks that virginity does not deserve the fame and glory it has, in fact it will ultimately lead to the spoil of a woman's soul, how the essence will be destroyed if they are kept prisoners and constricted.

The role of a woman in the 1950’s was constrictive and stifled. During the fifties, a woman was expected to have children and care for them, keep the house presentable and have dinner ready for her husband by the time he arrived home from work. This created the stereotype that “a woman’s place is in the home”(Coob). As shown above, in the 1950’s a woman was considered to be inferior to a man.

The book was an eye-opener to many as it broke the flow of peace for most perfect, suburban families. Friedan’s words were basically a slap in the face to society. Nobody knew that something was wrong. Although Friedan had a lot of criticizers, she was the first to take a stand and it proved to be a planted seed, to something bigger. Because of Friedan, other women spoke up and began to question the missing pieces in their

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’s importance in American history stems from the literary eminence of her writing, and her works show the rigid conditions of mid-twentieth century women. Plath's significance really comes from the ways in which she opened doors with her writing that prior to her have never been explored before. She was a feminist-martyr who challenged a patriarchal society. She posed questions that no one else seemed to be asking about the role that I woman plays in society. Her book The Bell Jar, displayed a protagonist who struggled with basic questions about sex. Questions like, if I decide to have sex before marriage am I a bad person? Why can men have sex with multiple people and women can’t?

In the article titled, “Sylvia Plath” the author, Sarah Ann McGill states that, “ Plath's intelligence and hard work earned her a scholarship to Smith College, an all women's institution, in 1950. She continued to soar above her classmates.”(McGill). Plath was a great writer during her time and it even was able to get her scholarships to go to the school she wanted to go to. After school Sylvia ended up getting married and even had a couple of kids, but the birth of her children also were able to inspire her

This demonstrates her dire to reconnect with her father in the afterlife. She fills the void of her father’s absence by writing poetry and marrying a man that reminds her of her father. Plath says, “I made a model of you, A man in black with a Meinkampf look/ And a love of the rack and the screw. And I said I do, I do.”

Throughout the poem, Plath contradicts herself, saying, ‘I was seven, I knew nothing’ yet she constantly talks of the past, remembering. Her tone is very

Slide 2: Sylvia Plath is a neurotic Poet who creates works that are more morbid than other poet’s works.