...Sylvia Plath had a life full of ups and downs. Her lifelong battle with multiple different illnesses is what made her career but also ended it at the same time. Using her research along with the research of other Dr. Jamison was able to make a “literary, biographical, and scientific argument for a compelling association, not to say actual overlap, between two temperaments--the artistic and the manic-depressive—and their relationship to the rhythms and cycles, or temperament, of the natural world.” Plath is just one poet among an extensive list of poets that have suffered from this illness (Butscher 385). Sylvia Plath was born to Otto and Aurelia Plath on October 27, 1932 in Boston Massachusetts. Plath’s father who was a professor at Boston University, the school Plath’s mom was attending, took a bus, boat, and trolley to get to work every morning (Steinberg, “A Celebration”). This dedication proves that Otto...
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...My interpretation of "Daddy" by Sylvia Plath Marlene Williams Eng/125 December 15, 2012 Michele Watson My interpretation of "Daddy" by Sylvia Plath “Daddy” by Sylvia Plath is a dark and solemn journey through the thoughts of a young girl scorned. This young girl becomes the woman who continues to carry the burden of her childhood in her adult life. The setting and feeling of the poem is dismal and full of rage, a rage Sylvia Plath claims to put behind her in the last line “ / Daddy, daddy, you bastard, I’m through. / “(Plath, 1963) but in reality she was never capable of escaping the pain. The poem “Daddy” if the wording is taken literally as opposed to figuratively and or symbolically, the leads the reader to believe that Sylvia Plath was raised in a military family by an oppressive father who brought his work home with him. The poem entails so much more than what is on the surface, there is a darkness buried deep within the words left for the reader to unearth by searching beyond the words and into the soul of the poet. “Daddy” is engorged with metaphoric references to a dark and oppressive past where Plath equates her father’s hand to that of a Nazi. The reader can be eluded to believe in the third stanza that Plath is describing the uniform of a soldier. ” / And a head in the freakish Atlantic. / Where it pours bean green over blue. / “(Plath, 1963). In reality Sylvia Plath’s father was not in the military, Otto Plath was actually “a professor of biology...
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...raised in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts during the Great Depression, Sylvia Plath endured an oppressive and depressing childhood. On the surface, Plath appeared to be intelligent, sensitive, and flawless, but inside she was living in misery. Sylvia Plath's emotional life, and her arduous past with her father's death, her tragic break up with Ted Hughes, feminism, and bipolar disorder played an immense part in her career as a poet by inspiring her to create her somber masterpieces. Despite all her troubles, Sylvia Plath excelled as a student at Smith College, won awards, and prizes for her writing, and was a straight a student. Then, she met her future husband and ex-husband, Ted Hughes, whom she would have two children with. Sylvia Plath, was an extremely prodigious poet, she published her first poem, Circus in Three Rings, at age eight. By writing over 121 compelling poems and one stellar novel based on her life experiences, women's rights and injustices, she became the face of 20th century feminism. Sylvia Plath’s poetry is mainly about 20th century feminism and women’s social injustices. "The poem Daddy criticizes the male aggression and depicts men being responsible for all the social injustices" (Hunt). In Sylvia Plath's versification Daddy, she illustrates how men are dominant over women, by comparing herself to Jews, and men to the Nazis. “I may be a bit of a Jew. I have always been scared of you” (Plath, "Daddy"). She outlines how women are a minority, and don’t have a voice...
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...4/5/2015 Comparitive Literature Dr.Hanan Ibrahim Comparison between Daddy” and “Lady Lazarus” by Sylvia Plath Sylvia Plath was an American poet, novelist, and short-story writer. Born on October 27, 1932, in Boston, Massachusetts, she studied at Smith College and Newnham College at the University of Cambridge, before receiving praise as a poet and writer. Sylvia was clinically depressed for most of her life, and committed suicide in 1963. In 1982, she won a posthumous Pulitzer Prize for The Collected Poems. Plath is a well-known feminist writer. Sylvia has always felt that she is inferior to men and was victimized greatly by her father. Sylvia’s own experiences with the men in her life comes out in a lot of her writing, and this style of writing is common for her. Her writing seems to be her response to the oppression she felt from men. Sylvia could face her father, and never found closure with the abuse she felt so she used her styling techniques and strong metaphors to feel some sort of relief. Sylvia was also tortured by her husband, and she was victimized by him just like she was by her father. She felt that she was inferior to him, and this showed in her early works, like in “A life “. However, in later works, she overcomes the victimization she felt and uses her experiences as an advantage in her writing. She even metaphorically kills her father in “Daddy.” “Daddy” was written on October 12, 1962. The poem is viewed as to be about Sylvia’s deceased...
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...Cryptically confronting and subtly depressive, Sylvia Plath’s poetry caught the minds of young writers and poetry enthusiasts whilst disgruntling older, more traditional generations of poetry readers. Her use of imagery depicting a world tarnished, the war of a dysfunctional family and a depressive mind and imagination took the poetry world by storm and even after 55 years, Sylvia Plath is a prominent figure throughout the world of literature. Plath’s work is heavily influenced by, and imbedded in, the confessional poetry movement. A movement between the 1950’s and 60’s, that witnessed the rise of personal or first person writing, “I”, and highly private or emotional subject matter such as trauma, death and depression, all of which can be found in much of Plath’s writing. This element of her work, already ‘outrageous’ for many was heightened by the fact that she was a woman. This movement allowed her to openly and bluntly address and express the outrage she and many other women felt to the periods’ societal and gender norms. Her use of language and poetic technique are lost when not read aloud, most prominently in “daddy” where the poem takes on a sing-song, lullaby rhythm that amplifies the meaning and connotations within...
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...to the poem, ‘Daddy’, written by Sylvia Plath? WORD COUNT: 1,503 A: Marxist Literary Criticism views literary works as reflections of the social institutions from which they originate. This being said, even literature itself is a social institution and has a specific ideological function, based on the background and ideology of the author. It includes analysing the class constructs conveyed in the literature and examines the ways in which texts reveals ideological oppression of a dominant economic ruling class over the subordinate working classes. It is here used to analyse ‘Daddy’, written by Sylvia Plath (1932-1963). The poem is supposedly to be about the psychological relationship Plath had with her father, Otto Emil Plath. Her poem makes great use of metaphor, alliteration, repetition, symbolism and imagery. The poem was written by Plath on the 12th of October, 1962. It was written a year before Plath’s suicide on the 11th of February, 1963. The poem was published posthumously, in her vast collection of poetry named Ariel, in 1965. It is a rancorous and brutal poem, consisting of sixteen-five line stanzas. Within the poem, the language alternates between a lyrical tone and an ironic critique of the endless depth of despair Plath feels. ‘Daddy’ works in its entirety by creating a replica of Plath’s supposed psychic state in the readers, so that we almost re-live her despair, horror, rage, revenge, insanity and masochism. Throughout ‘Daddy’ there is an emotionally...
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...“It's not as bad as it sounds.” (Huckleberry Finn) Compare how the theme of outsiders is presented in Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, D.B.C Pierre’s Vernon God Little and Sylvia Plath’s Ariel. Throughout the history of literature, the idea of an outsider unable to find his place within society is explored frequently in all three texts. The theme of the outsiders is presented in all novels but separated due to the different time periods in which they were set, thus resulting in controversy and criticisms making it difficult to find a place within literature. Mark Twain’s ‘Huckleberry Finn’ is the story of a young boy, Huck Finn, who is faced with a restraint enforced upon him by society and later acknowledges this restraint once he comes to the realization that there is no escape from the society. ‘Vernon God Little’, like Huckleberry Finn, is also a story of a young boy framed as an accessory in a High School Massacre and is rendered to be an outcast in a society which revolves around manipulation and gullibility. Both Pierre and Twain portray the limitations and issues placed upon a young boy growing up in society. Sylvia Plath was viewed as a feminist icon, her collection ‘Ariel’, adopts the theme of outsider, as she believed women were classed as second-tier in a male dominant society and posed as a response to patriarchy in which oppressed women. The three texts intertwine in the portrayal of the outsider and act as a commentary on the societies in which these writers...
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...Natalie Reynolds English 1102 section 97 Mandi Sena January 22, 2014 Techniques Gothic Literature, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror, is a genre of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance. The Gothic literature feel is achieved through manipulating literature elements to portray the story or poem how the writer/speaker wants. There are ten main elements that can be manipulated; the setting, the environment, atmosphere, protagonists, emotions, damsels in distress, foreboding, the supernatural, decay of characters, and finally, drama. When writing gothic literature one must use their personal techniques in manipulating the elements to achieve the gothic qualities desired; William Faulkner, Edgar Allan Poe, and Sylvia Plath all use different techniques in their writing and this is what gives each of their pieces of literature a different feel. For example in William Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily he uses techniques unique to himself. Such as, writing the story in an alternating kind of way to help the readers to carry the action forward in their own minds by suggesting doubt in the story line, this allows us to be surprised at the end when we find out what really happens. This back and forth style of writing is prominent throughout the whole story, but the biggest example is that Emily starts out dead and then the writer proceeds to continue the rest of the story from back when she was alive. His story also has a creepy setting where anything can happen...
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...SYLVIA PLATH Sylvia Plath was an American poet, novelist, and short-story writer. She is widely recognized as one of the most important American poets of the twentieth century. Her best-known poems are carefully crafted pieces noted for their personal imagery and intense focus. Many concern such themes as alienation, death, and self-destruction. Her vivid imagery, searing tone, and intimate topics cemented her place among the pantheon of great poets. Best known for novel The Bell Jar and her second volume of poetry, Ariel, Plath's reputation has only grown since her death in 1963. She is considered a poet of the confessional movement, which was led by Robert Lowell, but her work transcends this label and speaks to more universal truths than simply her own emotions. Although the sensational nature of her death by suicide has led some critics and readers to conflate the value of her life and art, Sylvia Plath's poetry demonstrates an astonishing capacity to engage with the art of poetry; many of her words and images have become fully entrenched in the literary consciousness. EARLY LIFE Sylvia Plath was born on October 27, 1932 in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts to Aurelia Schobert Plath (American of Austrian descent) and Otto Emile Plath (immigrant from Grabow, Germany). Her father was a biology and German professor at Boston University. He was also an author of a book based on bumblebees. There was a stark age difference between Plath’s parents, her mother being twenty one years...
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...In Sylvia Plath’s poem “Daddy”, the speaker in the work is a woman whom dearly loves yet at the same time despises her father. As a young child she adored her father as she would a God or some other figure just as high in rank. She also felt fear and resentment because her father completely took over her life and ways of living. It is shown that the speaker has feelings she hasn’t quite figured out when it comes to her father’s existence. This poem expresses how she is attempting to free herself from the ongoing chains left locked shut by her father. /The speaker’s father dies when she is at a young age. Growing up, most children usually break away from their parents’ rules, start living for themselves, and start making their own lives. It was stated by the speaker, “Daddy I have had to kill you/ You died before I had time” (6-7), which indicates that she is now trapped in his ways and that she is unable to outgrow her father’s ruling over her. It is noticed that the speaker firmly uses the term ‘daddy’ instead of father which shows that she is stuck in a childhood memory. The way the speaker describes her father goes back and forth between praise and criticism. She doesn’t really know how she feels or even what she wants to feel about the man. Having her father disappear from her life at such a young age has obviously made the speaker believe that she is forever trapped to live this certain way for the rest of her life. She is scared to change because even though it may...
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...Sylvia Plath and Her Poetry Sylvia Plath was a short story writer and poet who was mostly known for her collections of poetry. Plath is considered the emancipator of “confessional poetry”: poetry that focuses around personal trauma (“A Brief Guide to Confessional Poetry”). In her lifetime, she wrote many poems that were gathered together into seven collections; only one of them published before she committed suicide in 1963. It was very obvious that the struggles in Plath’s life such as the passing of her father, her severe depression, and a vicious divorce, heavily influenced her poetry (Mays). Plath was born in Boston, Massachusetts on October 27th, 1932. Her mother was a student at Boston University and her father was a German immigrant...
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...forget the deadly scenes of brutal extermination of Jewish civilians. Sylvia Plath’s poem Daddy is a sorrowful piece of writing, which demonstrates her pain, her lament, and her cry for help through pictures of the Nazi regime and genocide. In reality, however, mantled under the disguise of Hitler and fascism are her father and her husband. Through multiple metaphors, Sylvia Plath depicts these two as her oppressors, who have been gradually ruining her life tenderly in turn. Thus, in her great poem Daddy, Silvia Plath shows her grief caused by oppression from her father, her husband, and the contemporary cultural environment. As the title of the poem goes – Daddy – this literary work is mainly about her father, who had obviously left her when Plath was still young. After he had left her, he had freed her from the symbolical “black shoe, in which [she had] lived like a foot for thirty years.” In addition, she associates her father with Hitler, saying that she had always been scared of him, and depicting his mustache and Aryan eyes. She had also referred to her father as a brute, which also proves that she had been oppressed by him. However, despite that oppression that she had been experiencing, she still missed him. The author writes, “I used to pray to recover you” and “at twenty I tried to die and get back […] to you.” Although the title of the poem suggests that she had devoted the poem to her father, Sylvia Plath also addresses her husband in the poem. She describes him...
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...A prominent figure of modern American literature, confessional poet, Sylvia Plath, works hold grand significance, for it lead to the probe of a feminist-martyr to patriarchal society, sex-based roles, and psychiatric care. Noted for the blend of intense imagery and humorous use of alliteration and rhyme, Plath associating her works with her personal battles of anguish and depression, further solidified her mark on American history. Sylvia Plath was born in 1932 in Winthrop, Massachusetts, to an academically well-established family. Her father died when she was eight, marking the beginning of her lifelong internal battles of depression, hence her poem Daddy. Ambitiously driven and exceptional student, from a young age she kept journals, published poems in reginal magazines and newspapers. She later attended Smith and Cambridge University, where she met and married the poet, Ted Hughes, birthing two children. Throughout her life, Plath suffered deep depression and...
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...Craziness in Desperation --Reading Ariel Abstract: The American poetess Sylvia Plath with her short, yet brilliant life is a notable figure in the field of twentieth-century American poetry. Ariel is one of her late poems which marks her maturity in poetry and is of great importance to the study of her works. Through interpretation of Ariel, we can learn her psychological struggle which stems from the conflicts of the duality in identity. Key Words: Sylvia Plath, poetess, identity, craziness The poem Ariel is the title poem in the posthumous poem collection of the same name of the American Poetess, Sylvia Plath who plays a remarkable role in mid-twentieth American poetry, especially in the movement of Confessional Poetry. As a woman writer, Plath was always in conflict of her two identity -- a woman as a docile and domestic housewife, mother or daughter and on the other side a writer of independence and free mind. She was forever struggling all her life which she ended at the age of 31. Her suicide, which is often related to her disastrous marriage with English laurel poet Ted Hughes, alongside with her identity as a woman poet drew much public attention right after her death and has remained a contested topic until today. Her poems has been constantly reprinted in the UK and USA as well as in numerous translated versions. She is widely “recognized as one of the leading figures in twentieth-century Anglo-American literature and culture”.1 Her late poems which are often...
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...Anita Stanford Searle English 102 Spring 2014 June 1, 2014 Paper 5 The Confessional Poet, Sylva Plath Sylva Plath was a pioneer who never got to see the results of her writings. She led a tormented life which was reflected in all her poems. She lost her father at age eight and never recovered from it. From the first to last of her published writings, Sylvia Plath what was later to be named as a confessional poet. This term did not exist while she was alive. Although she died at an early age, she has contributed much to the literary world. She had many confessional themes in her pieces. The main theme was resentment. The reading audience of her time was not a great change in which we looked at literature in a different light. No longer did it have to be fluff but literature could take a stance on current events or personal tragedies. People began to relate on a more intimate level. This sparked a new interest in literature. We will see how the term confessional poet relates to Sylvia Plath and how it applies to her poetry. A confessional poet by definition is a poet whose work lies in their own personal experiences. Sylvia used her life experiences to no so much relay her resentments about many of the injustices she felt in her life. She did not lay blame just expressed her emotions and opinions about certain times in her life. During the 1960’s, she was the first to do this and was not widely received at first. It was not until after her death that she was recognized for...
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