Sylvia Plath essays

26 samples in this category

Essay examples
Essay topics
3 Pages 1223 Words
In Plath’s “Ariel” Collection she expresses anger at a patriarchal society and the sufferings patriarchy brings, confining women to their sphere and archetypes. Women are described as “voiceless, confined, dehumanized and dismembered because of patriarchy”, the adoption of the Jewish metaphor to dramatize the collective female helpless response in what is the face of male assertive power. In “Daddy”, Plath...
2 Pages 880 Words
In Plath’s poems “Contusion’ and “Edge” there is a central theme and image of death that is liberating and perfect. These themes and images are constant throughout many of Plath’s poetry, but in these two particular poems, the idea of death is more forthcoming. “Edge” the last poem that Plath wrote before she ended her life is also another reason...
2 Pages 1122 Words
Sylvia Plath was a confessional poet through her influence, Robert Lowell. “Sylvia Plath explored the themes of death, self, and nature in works that expressed her uncertain attitude toward the universe” (New World Encyclopedia). As Plath's poetry developed, it became more private and personal towards her own life. Her poetry expressed inner demons and showcased themes to justify her reality....
1 Page 626 Words
It is often easy to suggest that ‘poetry makes a familiar world unfamiliar’ however, the world that the poet writes about is familiar to them. For example, Sylvia Plath’s poetry was highly influenced by her deteriorating mental health and her difficulty with relationships. The world that Plath’s poetry portrayed is a world that was familiar to her. Plath’s short book...
2 Pages 1007 Words
The inconsistent points of view presented that form Hughes’ roles as both a composer and persona in Birthday Letters, are revealed in the interaction with memory and hindsight. In “Fulbright Scholars” this interaction is displayed in the tension that is produced in the opening of the poem from the repetition of the juxtaposition of rhetorical questions which he writes answers...
2 Pages 1030 Words
Textual conversations between conflicting texts highlight both the parallels between the composer’s ideologies as well as their conflicting attitudes, underscoring the contrasting outlooks from both parties. Resonating and reaffirming this idea is the contradictory interplay between Sylvia Plath’s poetry collection of ‘Ariel’, authored during an era of gender digression, where women were stereotypically branded as housewives,; and Ted Hughes’ attempts...
2 Pages 937 Words
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath hounds Esther Greenwood who spends the summer of 1953, “the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs” away from hometown Massachusetts, sent off to intern in New York at a reputable fashion magazine with eleven other lucky girls. She is meant to have the time of her life, be the envy of thousands of college girls...
3 Pages 1418 Words
Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy” is considered by some to be one of the best examples of confessional poetry ever published. In the poem, Plath compares the horrors of Nazism to the horrors of her own life, all of which are centered on the death of her father. Although autobiographical in nature, “Daddy” gives detailed insight into Sylvia Plath’s conflicting emotions by...
2 Pages 937 Words
Written in 1959, Syliva Plath writes about the feelings of being in the state of pregnancy, in her poem Metaphors. Many of Plath's works have been influenced by her experiences in dealing with maternity and fertility. Her works mirror her experiences with loss, motherhood, and family. Metaphors was one of the first poems Plath had ever written about pregnancy in...
1 Page 467 Words
Sylvia Plath was widely regarded as “one of the most celebrated and controversial post-war (‘feminists’)” writing in English” [Oates] in the twentieth century. In her ‘Ariel’ collection, Plath explores the gender inequality and expectations that plagued society at that time, and arguably today. Through her poetry, Plath criticises the social norms and values that socially conditioned both men and women...
3 Pages 1502 Words
Post-world war II period is incomplete without the name of Sylvia Plath. Plath being a significant artist, turned out to be reputable after her suicide in 1963. She has recognized herself because of her famous collection Ariel which hold alarming and acclaimed stanzas. She used bold and wild metaphors, repeatedly disrupting and violent symbolism to summon mythic characteristics in humankind....
3 Pages 1220 Words
We are in complete and total control of our thoughts, actions and everyday decisions… whether we choose to believe this is down to us. Throughout my life, I have had several times where I stopped to question myself and my happiness, and what I was doing to feed and maintain it. My curiosity for this sparked when I realised that...
3 Pages 1187 Words
Our collective relationship with the natural world is one fraught with tensions and paradoxes. Through a refusal to identify any form of objective truth, Ariel by Sylvia Plath moves beyond binaries to posit language as a portal into deepened self understanding. In this essay I will discuss… In this essay I will discuss how Plath through an exploration of the...
3 Pages 1204 Words
The bond between a parent and a child is not only one of the strongest, but, it also has the ability to be the most complicated. This intricate bond is exhibited in both “Medusa”, written by Sylvia Plath, as well as Theodore Roethke’s poem, “My Papa’s Waltz.” These two poems are written in first person point view about a child’s...
1 Page 434 Words
First of all, Holden and Esther share the common obstacle of being unable to conform to the standards and expectations formed by society. Holden and Esther are both adolescents in a 1950s United-States, a less progressive time where you had almost no choice but to follow the path set out by society as you enter the adult world. However, neither...
6 Pages 2517 Words
Sylvia Plath is an American writer and poet. She did not live an exciting life as others will think. In fact, it was quite the opposite. She had struggled with depression and mental illness throughout various points in her lifetime. Her life influence her works with themes, such as self identity and female roles. It indicates how mental illness can...
2 Pages 743 Words
Reviewed double_ok
'Daddy' is a poem included in the book Ariel, written by Silvia Plath. The poem is framed within the so-called confessional stream, with an autobiographical character, a reflection of the chaos and suffering experienced by the author. 'Daddy' is a poem that reads like an exorcism. It can also be understood as an expression of the Father-Daughter relationship. Plath in...
4 Pages 1682 Words
Plath is considered to be one of the major voices writing about feminine subjects during the 1950s and the 1960s. This was a period when feminists started to acknowledge women’s oppression and the 2nd wave feminist movement began in the early 1960s. Within Plath’s collection of poems, Ariel, published in 1965, two years after her death in 1963, we see...
4 Pages 1705 Words
Throughout the entirety of both novels, characters are faced with physical and psychological manifestations of entrapment, from which the everlasting effects transcend beyond the point of their liberation. Whether it’s from Ma’s heart-breaking journey to escape her physical imprisonment in ‘Room’ or Esther Greenwood’s painful course to reclaim her independence after mentally trapping herself in ‘The Bell Jar’, both share...
2 Pages 883 Words
Sylvia Plath does present the frightening but liberating freedom of the natural world as preferable to the oppressive, patriarchal structures of the manmade world. The poet makes effective use of conceptual landscape and personification in her poetry, and the ‘natural world’ often seems to echo the narrative voice’s mood clearly. But at the same time , there seems to be...
2 Pages 1139 Words
Throughout an examination of Plath’s poetry, a reader will witness prominent themes of inadequacy and mental anguish. The poet’s lack of self-belief is primarily evident in ‘Mirror’, as the poet struggles to overcome her insecurities. Furthermore, Plath combats her darkest thoughts during ‘Arrival of the Bee Box’ and ‘Poppies in July’ as she confronts her inner demons. But such examples...
3 Pages 1515 Words
The novel the Bell Jar was published before Sylvia Plath committed her forth suicide, which was successful eventually. As the only full-length novel she left on the world, some of its features such as the nature of autobiography, extreme theme and feminist philosophy have continuously attracted the attention of its readers and scholars all around the world. As a female...
price Check the price of your paper
Topic
Number of pages

Join our 150k of happy users

  • Get original paper written according to your instructions
  • Save time for what matters most
Place an order

Fair Use Policy

EduBirdie considers academic integrity to be the essential part of the learning process and does not support any violation of the academic standards. Should you have any questions regarding our Fair Use Policy or become aware of any violations, please do not hesitate to contact us via support@edubirdie.com.

Check it out!