Poetry Comparison: Sylvia Plath ‘Daddy’‚ a poem written by Sylvia Plath‚ was written just four months before her suicide and describes a girl’s rough relationship with her father. Some believe that the poem might also be a reference to her husband‚ Ted Hughes‚ who she also had a very up-and-down relationship with. The poem attracted some rage from critics on account of its use of the Holocaust as a metaphor for the father-daughter relationship described. There is enough material from Plath’s life
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“Mirror” by Sylvia Plath is a poem narrated from the perspective of a mirror. Within this poem‚ there is a clash between truth and perception. This idea is first presented through the form of the stanzas where the mirror is “silver and exact” (Plath 1) then when the mirror is “now [...] a lake” (10). The poem then illustrates how even the truthful mirror has preconceptions. Then finally how the woman‚ who comes every morning to look in the mirror often deludes herself with “those liars‚ the candles
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Poppies in July - Sylvia Plath “Poppies in July” is a short poem written in free verse. Its fifteen lines are divided into eight stanzas. The first seven stanzas are couplets‚ and the eighth consists of a single line. The title presents an image of natural life at its most intense—at the height of summer. It evokes a pastoral landscape and suggests happiness‚ if not joy or passion. The title is ironic‚ however‚ because the poem is not a hymn to nature but a hallucinatory projection of the landscape
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Sylvia Plath’s poem "Daddy" portrays her love and hate relationship with her own father. At first glance‚ the poem almost spits vivid words of rage and hate toward her father; but even on the second reading the very structure of the poem‚ as well as a few word choices betray the love she feels for him. This creates a warring duality and she herself the views this unresolved relationship as the root of her misery. The very title of the poem Daddy contradicts the face value of the poem as a whole
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According to Vladimir Nabokov‚ in an essay entitled “Good Readers and Good Writers‚” there are specific traits that make up a good writer. One looking to be a great writer should be “considered as a storyteller‚ as a teacher‚ and as an enchanter” (1007). Sylvia Plath is a good writer‚ because she meets each of his expectations. Nabokov was primarily educated at the prestigious Trinity College‚ Cambridge. He lectured and taught at Stanford University‚ Wellesley College‚ and Cornell University‚ all also very
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writes‚ "Sylvia cannot speak; she cannot tell the heron’s secret and give its life away." Sylvia’s only friend‚ the pleasant young hunter who has come to her house in hopes of finding and shooting the great heron that inhabits the area‚ is going to leave‚ and has asked Sylvia to tell him where the heron can be found. Sylvia knows‚ but after much agonizing‚ finds that the loyalty she feels for the heron‚ as it represents the natural world‚ is greater than her longing for human contact. Sylvia cannot
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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
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Sylvia Plath was one of the most self-motivated and well-regarded poets of the 20th century. She was an American poet‚ novelist‚ and short story write. Plath was born in Boston and studied at the University of Cambridge before receiving approval as a poet and writer. By the time‚ she took her life at the age of 30‚ Plath was already known in the literary community. In the following years‚ her work attracted the attention of many readers‚ who saw in her singular verse an attempt to catalogue despair
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Conflicting Emotions of Sylvia Plath The speaker in the poem “Daddy” is someone who both fiercely hates her father but also passionately loves him. When she was younger‚ she compared her father to a god-like entity—always looking up to him and constantly seeking his approval. Her fierce hate towards her father stems from the deep rooted fear of him. The speaker is torn between these two polar emotions that have been constantly tormenting her and blames them on her unresolved emotions toward her
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Sylvia Plath’s poem ‘Daddy’ expresses the struggle for female identity by basing it around the Holocaust‚ one of the most gruesome‚ immoral events in the whole of history. Plath uses this event as a metaphor for her struggles in life‚ and the struggles of women in general for independence. The male figure used in this poem is in the shape of Hitler‚ a man of unfathomable evil. In this poem‚ ‘Daddy’ is seen as a Hitler figure during the metaphor of the Holocaust. He is seen as oppressing the female
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