Discuss How Two Poets You Have Studied Treat the Theme of Human Imperfection.

Emily Bronte and Sylvia Plath are a good example of two poets who treat the theme of human imperfection in their poems. Although they both treat the same theme in their poems, the way in which they handle the same theme is different. This is because both poets come from different centuries and therefore exhibit different features in their writing. While Bronte comes from the 19th century, Plath comes from the 20th century. The difference in their times affects their writing style, for example the rhythm in their poems. While Bronte’s poetry rhymes because it was common in her century, Plath’s poetry doesn’t because rhyme was out of fashion in the 20th century. The Isolation of both poets, Bronte’s isolation chosen for her, Plath by choice, brings the theme and ideas much closer to one another because the have a feature connecting them to one another. In order to bring out their theme for the readers, both poets use a lot of literary features, as well as choice of words and style. This conveys their same meaning of the them but in different ways and with different features.

In Bronte’s poem “I Am The Only Being Whose Doom” and in Plath’s “Jilted”, both poets use many different features to bring out the same theme. While in Bronte’s poem, she focuses on the imperfection in humans directly by saying “And then experience told me truth / In mortal bosoms never grew.” This states that after her long life on earth, she learned from experience that one cannot trust human not even her self. This is show when she says “ But worse to trust to my own mind / And find the same corruption there.” Plath deals with the theme in an indirect way by describing the pain she went through when a human being has hurt her, although ahe does state that she will go on surviving. This shows that Plath’s feels that humans do have imperfections, although she does as well, she is not one of the worst who do have those imperfections. This shows how although both poets do have the same underly theme in their poems, Bronte faces her theme head on, while Plath hides it behind the bigger theme of her poem which is the pain she is going through. This means that although the poems have the same theme, the poets handle and show them in very different ways. One of the ways that the poets use to convey their theme of human imperfection in their poetry is literary features. In Bronte’s poem “I Am The Only Being Whose Doom” she uses many hyperbolas in order to bring out the harshness of mankind and there imperfections, this makes it seem like the situations she is describing are worse than they really are. This results in the reader sympathizing with the poet and believing that humans do have much more imperfections than what was seen before. An example of this is “As friendless after eighteen years / As lone as on my natal day” this shows that mankind have shut her out since the being and have never excepted her, therefore human’s have imperfections such as not accepting everyone. Plath does not use hyperbolas to convey her theme, although she does use many imageries in order to bring out her idea and theme and materialize theme in a convincing manner.
For example she says “ Droops upon it’s wizened stem / My lean, unripened heart” which discuses the pain she is going through because of a human imperfection of leaving. Bronte uses imagery to show her pain to the people, as well as metaphors. This is apparent also in Plath’s poem. This makes it seem like while in Bronte’s poem it is very bad to have human imperfections, in Plath’s it is not as harsh. This results in having the reader interpret the theme of human imperfection in different ways.

In order for both poets to bring out their theme’s have a selective choice of words. Since each poet uses different words it bring out a different level of understanding of the theme. In Bronte’s poem, she uses negative words, which bring about a gloomy atmosphere, this helps set the theme that is showing the harshness of human imperfections. Plath on the other hand uses light and soft words to convey her theme. This results in the reader talking the theme too lightly or not as harshly as the poet in tended. Although both poet’s poems are sad and depressing, Bronte’s is shown more because of her very negative and gloomy choice of words. Plath’s poem seems lighter because she uses words that convey brighter, lighter colors and meaning, so it hides the depression of the theme in the poem. This brings about two different ways in which the theme could be handled.

The style of the poem affects the theme in that if the theme is not apparent it might be missed. In Bronte’s poem, she uses stanzas of four lines and there is rhyme and internal music in the poem. Plath also uses stanzas of four lines and internal music but there is no rhyme in the poem. This affects the theme greatly because rhyme draws the reader in more and makes the reader dive into the theme and main idea of the poem. Having an organized poem of stanzas makes the reader stop and think and have the ideas clearly spread out for them. This helps bring out the theme of imperfection in humans greatly. This shows that the difference in style really helps the reader understand and see the theme. While Bronte has her poem mainly focused on directly attacking mankind in her stanzas, Plath does not keep on the same theme and keeps going back and forth from it in her stanzas. This creates a whole different interpretation of the them. In Bronte’s poem, since the theme is focused, the reader can grasp the feelings of human imperfection and maybe even feel the same way. Plath’s poem since she goes from the theme of human imperfection to her pain, the reader does not grasp the theme as greatly and ends with feeling less with the theme of human imperfection. This shows that the poet’s, although having same themes, end up having there readers interpret them in different ways.

To conclude the poet Emily Bronte and Sylvia Plath, have the poems “I Am The Only Being Whose Doom” and “Jilted” respectively, that handle the theme of imperfection in humans. While both poems have the same theme the way in which it is handled is different. Bronte’s poem handles the theme direaclty while Plath has an indirect way of looking at the theme. This results in the reader interpreting the theme in many different ways. Bronte’s poem makes the reader see how harsh human imperfections are and that none is free from them. In Plath’s poem, It shows a lighter side, a less harsher side and how not all humans have the same degree or level of imperfection. This is all shown by the different use of figures of speech, style, choice of words and many more. This shows that although two poems could have the same theme, the way that it may be interpreted could be different because of the way the handle the themes