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Essay on Sylvia Plath
Theme of death in literature
Essay on Sylvia Plath
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Jacob Berry AP Lit Module 7 Poetry Prompt 2 “Edge”
In the poem, “Edge” was the last piece of poetry written by author Sylvia Plath before she committed suicide. As the poem conveys the theme of death, sadly it may be viewed as a suicide note by the poet. Throughput the poem, Plath uses symbolism and imagery to convey the theme of death and bring depth and meaning to the poem. Plath uses symbolism to illustrate the theme of death as she describes the death of a woman and her children. Based on her symbolism, Plath does not seem to regret death. She writes “The woman is perfected/Her dead/Body wears the smile of accomplishment.” In this line, Plath is using the actual death of the woman as a symbol of death being the completion of life, as she emphasizes that with death the “woman was perfected” and it was an “accomplishment.” She further conveys the idea of death as she writes “as the petals/Of a rose close” with the closing of the rose being symbolic of death being the closure of life. As the poet explains the woman’s children each being as “one at each little pitcher of milk,” the pitchers of milk are symbolic of a mother feeding her children with milk, and in the past would have been a symbol of life, however in the poem the pitcher of milk is “now empty” thus again suggesting symbolism of death. The dead mother has had feeling of love toward the
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Her vivid imagery helps the reader envision the dead woman while her use of symbolism more deeply conveys her thoughts and attitude on the subject of death. Having the knowledge that the author, Plath, committed suicide after composing the poem make the reader even further understand why Plath may have titled her poem “Edge” for as she wrote it she was at the edge of her own
In the short story “Initiation” author Sylvia Plath suggests that conformity, although the societal norm, is not always as grand as it is made out to be, while also suggesting that even though conformity typically hinders one’s self growth, there are times when the fear of conforming can make one’s sense of self stronger. These two ideas together show that Plath uses this short story to convey the message that even though conformity is not inherently a positive thing, it can drive a person to look in on themselves and develop a unique identity. Plath uses symbolism, and character introspection to assert this idea.
There is no shortage of media encouraging adolescents to ‘be themselves’, promoting self-worth regardless as to what others think. While many may be fed this message throughout music and film, rarely ever is it conveyed to actually have a lasting effect on one’s personal views quite like Sylvia Plath’s “Initiation”. Although formulaic, Plath’s uniquely optimistic short story warns against an obsession with belonging, and explores the importance of individuality through the protagonist Millicent Arnold’s gradual character development, from a self-conscious teenage girl to a stronger and more confident individual.
“Daddy, daddy, you bastard, I’m through” is the last line in the poem. It is not until the end that we realize that not only is she through with the memories of her dead father and the adulterous behavior of her husband, but she is through with herself. This last line is clear – Plath has just announced to her readers that she will be committing suicide again, and plans on being successful at it. So, instead of this poem being Plath’s victorious confession to the horrible men in her life, and finally allowing closure, the poem is an outline of her promising death. Plath is still pained by these men, and cannot completely go on being alive. She believes that death is her only solution, and maybe in a way it was. Perhaps she is finally free, and finally able to “breath” and “Achoo.”
Brooks’ uses the symbol of death many times in her work. According to author Harry B. Shaw, the sheer frequency with which death appears in Miss Brooks’ poetry indicates its importance in her thinking (Shaw 48).
Sylvia Plath, a great American author, focuses mostly on actual experiences. Plath’s poetry displays feelings and emotions. Plath had the ability to transform everyday happenings into poems or diary entries. Plath had a passion for poetry and her work was valued. She was inspired by novelists and her own skills. Her poetry was also very important to readers and critics. Sylvia Plath’s work shows change throughout her lifetime, relates to feelings and emotions, and focuses on day to day experiences.
“One of the greatest regrets in life is being what others would want you to be, rather than being yourself.”- Shannon L. Alder, American author. Even with all the temptation and pressure we feel just to fit in today's society, or to be normal, it's crucial that you hold on to your passions, goals, dreams, values, and to hold on to yourself. Being yourself is very hard to do especially in today’s society. Such as the short story “Initiation” by Sylvia Plath.
“Successive Deaths” by Adelia Prado is a complex poem that deals with death, grievance, and rebirth. Prado uses free verse in her poem to express the grievance she felt of losing the three most important and influential people in her life. Losing her sister, her mother, and her father while also going through the physical changes of puberty is difficult to deal with but in the end she recalls those moments in an effort to move on from her grief. Prado begins her poem with the remembrance of her sisters death. When my sister died, I cried a great deal And was quickly consoled.
The theme of this poem is perspective, how the woman sees herself and how she is actually portrayed. In other words this poem is bashing the idea of vanity and replacing it with reality. Plath uses different types of figures of speech to try to make the intended theme clear. In the first nine line of the poem, personification is used to promote the theme. The second section of the poem lines 10-14 Plath uses metaphors, paradox and a jealous tone to relate to the theme of the poem. The final section of the poem lines 15-18 Plath uses a simile and a very serious tone to show exactly what the main theme of the poem is.
The phrasing of this poem can be analyzed on many levels. Holistically, the poem moves the father through three types of emotions. More specifically, the first lines of the poem depict the father s deep sadness toward the death of his son. The line Farewell, thou child of my right hand, and joy creates a mental picture in my mind (Line 1). I see the father standing over the coffin in his blackest of outfits with sunglasses shading his eyes from the sun because even the sun is too bright for his day of mourning. The most beautiful scarlet rose from his garden is gripped tightly in his right hand as tears cascade down his face and strike the earth with a splash that echoes like a scream in a cave, piercing the ears of those gathered there to mourn the death of his son.
The speaker’s language towards the woman’s death in “The Last Night that she lived” portrays a yearning attitude that leads to disappointment; which reiterates human discontent with the imperfections of life. The description of woman’s death creates an image of tranquility that causes the speaker to aspire towards death. Her death compares to a reed floating in water without any struggle. The simile paradoxically juxtaposes nature and death because nature’s connotation living things, while death refers to dead things, but death becomes a part of nature. She consents to death, so she quietly dies while those around her refuse to accept her imminent death. The speaker’s description of death sounds like a peaceful experience, like going to sleep, but for eternity. These lines describe her tranquil death, “We waited while She passed—It was a narrow time—Too jostled were Our Souls to speak. At length the notice came. She mentioned, and forgot—Then lightly as a Reed Bent to the water, struggled scarce- Consented, and was dead-“ .Alliteration in “We waited”, emphasizes their impatience of the arrival of her death because of their curiosity about death. The woman’s suffering will be over soon. This is exhibited through the employment of dashes figuratively that form a narrow sentence to show the narrowing time remaining in her life, which creates suspense for the speaker, and also foreshadows that she dies quickly. The line also includes a pun because “notice” refers to the information of her death, and also announcement, which parallels to the soul’s inability to speak. “She mentioned, and forgot—“, refers to her attempt to announce her farewell to everyone, which connects to the previous line’s announcement. The dashes fig...
Death can represent a multitude of things. For example, it can be depicted as a villain that will eventually claim everyone, or it could represent the escape from the world that someone has always been seeking. Regardless, dying is the end to everyone’s life. However, the poem "Sylvia 's Death" by Anne Sexton regards thoughts of death as well as the act of suicide as an escape from reality and the problems the world presents. Sexton utilizes organized couplets to resonate the speaker’s depression in order to emphasize the change in tone throughout the poem, which evolves as the speaker accepts the unfortunate news of Plath’s death.
In the poems “Because I Could Not Stop for Death”, by Emily Dickinson and “Home Burial”, by Robert Frost, literary elements are used throughout both poems to get the message the authors are trying to portray. One main important literary element that is used to entice the reader, is symbolism, because it helps the authors describe something without actual describing it. Symbolism is also used because it shows how significant an object is. Characterization is also an important literary technique because it, gives the reader an idea on how the character would act, work, and their values in life. Death is a topic that is used in both poems. Also, every character express their opinion about death differently.
In conclusion, Plath is successful in the poetry because she managed to express certain things such as death in the variety of ways. She views death as being something horrible, a condition at which people are de-humanized and lack all th emotions and feelings. At the same time Plath connects death to life and makes an assumption that it is impossible to understand life without knowing that death exists. Dickinson, on the contrary, depicts death as something humans are both afraid of and at the same time are waiting for all their lives. Death in the poetry of Dickinson is not so horrible as in the writing of Plath. Dickinson views death as being a perfect condition when person gets freedom from all the troubles and can have eternal life.
Death is inevitable and a lifelong process in every individual’s life. Most importantly, we are unaware of when or how it will happen and, because death can come at a time when we least expect it, it allows some individuals to fear death. In both poems, Lady Lazarus and Daddy, by Sylvia Plath, show different ways to view death. In Lady Lazarus, Plath talks about the characters attempts to commit suicide. Throughout the poem, we discover that the first time she tried to commit suicide was an accident while her second and third time were intentional. While Daddy reveals the process of how a girl came to terms with her father’s death. Although some may assert that the poems show rebirth, both poems reveal death as a way to escape from reality.
Death is a natural and inevitable part of life. Everyone will experience death, whether it is of a loved one or oneself. In W.H. Auden’s poem “Funeral Blues” (1003), he describes such a catastrophic event and the drastic effect that it has on his life. It is interesting how people choose to accept this permanent and expected event, death. Similarly, Emily Dickinson has written many poems about death, such as “The last Night that She lived” (843), which describes a family waiting for a woman or girl to die and the dreary and depressed mood that exists within the household. Mourning is considered a perfectly healthy reaction when someone who is deeply loved and cared about passes on, and this is illustrated in “The Memory of Elena” (1070-71) by Carolyn Forche. She writes about the events following a funeral and also flashes back to the actual moment that a wife has watched her husband die. W.H Auden’s “Funeral Blues,” Carolyn Forche’s “The Memory of Elena,” and Emily Dickinson’s “The last Night that She lived” are all poems which share death as their subject matter, but differ in the fact that they discuss death in a unique style with a variety of literary devices to make them more effective.