...Farah Saadeh 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...
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...Confessional poetry emerged in the United States in the 1950’s. It was the first time a poet told his or her story through their poetry. It often explored ideas that were thought of as taboo in those times such as mental illness, sexuality, and suicide. Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton were two famous confessional poets. They both also suffered from mental illness which is often expressed in their poetry. Sylvia Plath’s “Lady Lazarus” and Anne Sexton’s “Her Kind” both use allusions and imagery to convey their emotions to the reader. In Sylvia Plath’s poem, there is an allusion in the title itself, “Lady Lazarus.” Lazarus refers to the biblical figure that was resurrected by Jesus Christ. It’s ironic that the speaker would choose a biblical reference when comparing it to her suicide attempt. Her ”resurrection” happened because she failed at taking her own life. Another allusion occurs at the end of the poem: “Out of the ash, I rise with my red hair, And I eat men like air.” She is referring to the phoenix found in Greek mythology. A phoenix is a long-lived bird that is frequently reborn. The speaker is obviously unhappy with life yet she uses allusions that represent a positive rebirth. The first lines of her poem state “I have done it again. One year in every ten I manage it—“ referring to the fact that she has attempted to commit suicide at least once per decade. “The second time I meant to last it out and not come back at all. I rocked shut as a seashell...
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...renewal. In Lady Lazarus Sylvia Plath demonstrates this feeling of renewal with lines like “Dying is an art, like everything else. I do it exceptionally well…,” displaying her feelings that suicide is easy enough to do, but it’s doing it “theatrically” is what makes it an art. This motif of death is the foundation to Plath’s aspiration to revenge that is felt by her as female victim of male domination from her father’s general level of brutal domination. Males by nature are marked by the position of leaders,...
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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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...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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