Sylvia Plath's Obsession With Death
As a prosperous, admired poet, Sylvia Plath considered her obsession with death and her failure of self-repair as an art form that she expressed through poetry. Due to the continuous disloyalty resulting in betrayal that Plath received throughout her life she repeatedly designated herself the role as a victim in a majority of her poems. This gives evidence in saying that Sylvia Plath was a troubled woman trying to deal with her dark nature that is shown in several poems that she wrote, specifically the months leading to her death. This essay will discuss the increasing frailty up to the time of her death and how she became to accept her dark nature and use it to her advantage. Analysing three of Plath’s most heart wrenching poems that best
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The death of her father however led her to a traumatic and demanding lifestyle, often striving for success. While at this time she was severely affected, the poem Daddy; written 22 years later seamlessly describes the unhealthy relationship she had with her father as if it were still occurring. This proves that Plath’s best way of expressing her emotions is through poetry, even if it is a delayed reaction. In school Sylvia often secluded herself from her peers due to feeling like an outcast. While Plath was previously institutionalised into a mental hospital, she was released after becoming stable, however Plath stated in her novel that while she had been stabilised, it was inevitable that she would relapse. In 1962 Plath was betrayed by her husband of six years, leaving her with their children. On the morning of February 11th of 1963 Sylvia Plath took her own life at the age of 30, with her children in the next room. The emotions from this experience are best described in the poem Lady Lazarus.
Only four months before the traumatic death of Sylvia Plath, Lady Lazarus was written. While the poem is from the perspective of the character ‘Lady Lazarus’, the understanding of this poem is a reference to the multiple suicide attempts Plath made prior to the time of writing this poem. This is evident in the first line of the poem “I have done
The death of her father however led her to a traumatic and demanding lifestyle, often striving for success. While at this time she was severely affected, the poem Daddy; written 22 years later seamlessly describes the unhealthy relationship she had with her father as if it were still occurring. This proves that Plath’s best way of expressing her emotions is through poetry, even if it is a delayed reaction. In school Sylvia often secluded herself from her peers due to feeling like an outcast. While Plath was previously institutionalised into a mental hospital, she was released after becoming stable, however Plath stated in her novel that while she had been stabilised, it was inevitable that she would relapse. In 1962 Plath was betrayed by her husband of six years, leaving her with their children. On the morning of February 11th of 1963 Sylvia Plath took her own life at the age of 30, with her children in the next room. The emotions from this experience are best described in the poem Lady Lazarus.
Only four months before the traumatic death of Sylvia Plath, Lady Lazarus was written. While the poem is from the perspective of the character ‘Lady Lazarus’, the understanding of this poem is a reference to the multiple suicide attempts Plath made prior to the time of writing this poem. This is evident in the first line of the poem “I have done