Compare Plath and Larkin
Compare and contrast the ways in which death is portrayed in Philip Larkin’s poem ‘Days’ and ‘Ambulances’ and Sylvia plath’s ‘Lady Lazarus’ and ‘Death and Co’
The poems i am going to analyse are:
• Lady Lazarus
• Death and Co
• Ambulances
• Days
It is understatement to say that both Sylvia Plath and Philip Larkin have immense depth and subsidiary meanings to their poems, both writers expertly structure their poems and used varied techniques to convey their themes of death and instil their messages to their readers. Plath goes about it an autobiographical manner and parades death as a theatrical show leaving the audience in shock and awe however Larkin presents death in a rather trivial manner in comparison to Plath. He juxtaposes the everyday street scene with horrific. He uses the ambulance as a momentary that death is every present and our lives ultimately lead to the journey of death.
The oxymoron Lady Lazarus is significant to the poem. Lazarus, originally a man who is raised from the dead by Jesus is feminised and turned into Lady Lazarus. Plath summarises what she feels; “the terrible gift of being reborn”. The alliterative form of address “Lady Lazarus” liberates herself from the irrevocable influence of the male figure portrays her idea of feminine superiority over men and how women should excel over men in whatever they do however Larkin’s title “Ambulances” is a noun that is commonly associated with the negative imagery relating to accidents,hospitals ,blood, injuries and most importantly death.
Both writers use lexical techniques to convey their outlook and opinion on the theme of death; some of which consists of rhyme, rhetorical devices and their choice of vocab. Rhyme is used in the first stanza as Plath declares “I have done it again/One year in every ten” she emphasises to the equal repartition of her near-death experiences and holds connotations of her suicide attempts, “one year in every ten” and one being premeditated at this stage. Plath
The poems i am going to analyse are:
• Lady Lazarus
• Death and Co
• Ambulances
• Days
It is understatement to say that both Sylvia Plath and Philip Larkin have immense depth and subsidiary meanings to their poems, both writers expertly structure their poems and used varied techniques to convey their themes of death and instil their messages to their readers. Plath goes about it an autobiographical manner and parades death as a theatrical show leaving the audience in shock and awe however Larkin presents death in a rather trivial manner in comparison to Plath. He juxtaposes the everyday street scene with horrific. He uses the ambulance as a momentary that death is every present and our lives ultimately lead to the journey of death.
The oxymoron Lady Lazarus is significant to the poem. Lazarus, originally a man who is raised from the dead by Jesus is feminised and turned into Lady Lazarus. Plath summarises what she feels; “the terrible gift of being reborn”. The alliterative form of address “Lady Lazarus” liberates herself from the irrevocable influence of the male figure portrays her idea of feminine superiority over men and how women should excel over men in whatever they do however Larkin’s title “Ambulances” is a noun that is commonly associated with the negative imagery relating to accidents,hospitals ,blood, injuries and most importantly death.
Both writers use lexical techniques to convey their outlook and opinion on the theme of death; some of which consists of rhyme, rhetorical devices and their choice of vocab. Rhyme is used in the first stanza as Plath declares “I have done it again/One year in every ten” she emphasises to the equal repartition of her near-death experiences and holds connotations of her suicide attempts, “one year in every ten” and one being premeditated at this stage. Plath