Daddy Sylvia Plath Essay

Sylvia Plath wrote the poem “Daddy” in 1962, but it wasn’t published until years after her death. When her father died when she was just eight years old, she had a very hard time dealing with her emotions. Due to her inability to cope with her father’s death, Plath soon began to suffer from chronic depression, leading to issues with men, and theoretically taking on what is known as a “father complex.” Her depression, starting at a young age, led her to attempting suicide multiple times until her final, and sadly successful attempt in 1963. All of this and more is evident in her work. She shows her anger, frustration, depression, etc. through her poems. In this poem, Plath shows that no matter how attached to her father she used to be, she is finally done with him. Plath’s vivid descriptions present to readers the pain her father has caused her her entire life. For the eight years she knew her father, she looked up to him and saw him as a great man. It wasn’t until after his death that she realizes this
The poem starts off strong with the first stanza partly reading, “Any more, black shoe / In which I have lived like a foot,” (Plath 3-4). Here, the narrator is making reference to the old nursery rhyme about the old woman who lived in a shoe. This could be telling us many different things about her father. Living in a shoe would be crammed, and would make you feel trapped, which is key here. Plath constantly talks about being afraid of her father, and feeling as though she is a prisoner. She even states, “Barely daring to breathe or Achoo.” when around him (Plath 5). There Was An Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe goes deeper than the surface. One part reads, “And whipped them all soundly and sent them to bed.” Now, a lot of children were spanked when they were younger, but Plath seems to be hinting at rougher abuse. This line is describing her father’s emotional abuse and