Sylvie Plath Daddy

Sylvie Plath’s “Daddy” explores the power imbalance of gender relations and the negative effects of oppression on women in a male-dominated society. The speaker’s portrayal of the patriarchal system as her “daddy” describes the infinite power enforced through hegemony on women and how women are “chuffed up as Jews” into slavery, suppression and loss of self-identity. The use of child discourse with words like “achoo” and “gobbledygoo” portrays the speaker as having a child-like innocence which ironically proves that young girls lose their innocence when socializing into expected roles of women in marriage and childbearing. The holocaust imagery in “I think I may well be a Jew” allegorically represents the historical victimization of women in
a patriarchal society by demanding women submissiveness and also relates women’s present suffering to that of Jews in World War II. The speaker links the negative connotations of the Nazis to patriarchy, hence proving that the patriarchal system is sadistic, manipulative and controlling. The words “every woman adores a fascist” highlights women’s ambivalence in rejecting the societal roles placed on them, because of social norms relating to men’s power. The words “so black no sky could squeak through” emphasizes how women’s individuality is limited by gender roles. The vampire metaphor depicts patriarchal society as a leech-like creature, which gains power by disempowering women, hence the speaker stresses the need for women to stand up against self-hatred and silence by putting a stake through patriarchy’s “fat black heart”. The speaker states “I’m through” to urge women out of complacency with the hegemonic views of the patriarchal society.