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conflicts in sylvia plaths poetry
compare and contrast poems
recurrent themes of sylvia plaths poetry
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Compare And Contrast The Way Plath Presents The Speaker’s Fears In Three
Of The Poems That You Have Studied
Sylvia Plath writes poems that are thoughtful and intriguing. They
have clever and subtle suggestions that leave her poems open for
interpretation by the reader. Her poems mainly have themes with either
an odd or disturbing nature. The three poems I have chosen to compare
and contrast are; “Mirror,” “Bluebeard” and “The Arrival of The Bee
Box.”
In the three poems there are several different moods that are shown
throughout. In “Bluebeard” the speaker remains in control all the
time, she is defiant and makes her own choices in stating, “I am
sending back the key;” she is rejecting him and it is always her
option whether or not to. However throughout “Bluebeard” the speaker’s
tone remains constant and never changes unlike in “The Arrival of The
Bee Box” in which her disposition changes constantly. At the beginning
of the poem the poem begins with the speaker describing the box calmly
“I ordered this, clean wood box” this creates a pleasant image even
though it is a “box of maniacs.” The box is full of something very
dangerous. If the box were to be opened then the speaker would be
unleashing hundreds of bees and yet she describes the box as being
something pleasant instead of ominous and foreboding. Then as the poem
progresses the speaker becomes obsessed and fascinated with the box
and is unable to leave it, absorbed by the power that she possesses
over the bees. “It’s like a Roman mob,” could be referring to the fact
that the emperor in ancient Rome had complete control over the lives
of the many people and she now could similarly let all the bees, “die,
I need feed them nothing, I am the owner.”...
... middle of paper ...
...oughts in the poems, it is definitive
and final. The many stanzas allow Sylvia Plath to change the speaker’s
mood and thoughts in each stanza. This, along with the language used
which is awkward and difficult to read, has the desired effect of
reflecting her feelings of confusion. She seems to be trapped between
her feelings of obsession and fear of the box she knows she can not
open. This is similar to the myth of Pandora’s Box where the woman
knows she can’t open the box as there is danger in it and yet is
somehow strangely drawn to it
In general Sylvia Plath is successful in her endeavour to portray the
fears of others in her poems. She is very skilful at writing about
real feeling and involving her life in her poems to help incorporate
real life situations into them. And by involving her fears into the
poems this helps many people to relate to them.
threatening to her and her family. She runs into the house filled with fear but then finds herself not
At times, fear motivates people to behave unscrupulously. Personal fears instigate some characters in Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible to cry witch. Reverend Parris fears losing his job, Abigail fears prosecution and losing John Proctor, and Tituba fears physical retribution. Fear induces people to defend their personal whims and use their power to harm others.
feels trapped because of this and the way she sees the paper must be an
The Dangers of Fear Irish Playwright, George Bernard Shaw, once said, “The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them; that's the essence of inhumanity.” Inhumanity is mankind’s worst attribute. Every so often, ordinary humans are driven to the point where they have no choice but to think of themselves. One of the most famous examples used today is the Holocaust. Elie Wiesel’s memoir Night demonstrates how fear is a debilitating force that causes people to lose sight of who they once were.
Three Wishes, a book by Liane Moriarty, is a contemporary first person point of view novel that highlights the struggles of self-acceptance. The central protagonist, Catriona (Cat) Kettle, is one of the three triplets in her family. Her story takes us through her journey of a cheating husband, a catty mother, and strong-willed sisters. Cat’s introduction begins as one of the Kettle triplets; though they are all born at about the same time-- Cat almost acts as if she is the middle child. Her sisters, Lyn and Gemma, treat her differently: Gemma treats her with older sibling-like respect, whereas Lyn treats her like a little sister she needs to baby.
Think of a relationship in life, one where there is a dominant person over a group of people. Is this dominant person more feared or more loved by the general population? Machiavelli states that it is better to be feared than it is to be loved when ruling over a group of people, because one of them is going to outweigh the other no matter what. This does show to be true, but not to the extreme Machiavelli describes. In modern day, for the United States, there is no ruler or president that has public shaming or public killings, that was deemed unnecessary multiple decades ago. There is a huge line between fear and respect. Respect is a balance between love and fear, and it shows to have better outcomes with more accuracy of people not rising against ‘the man.’ There must be a balance between fear and love, if there is just fear there will be hatred, if there is just love there will be chaos. Respect is the happy medium between the love and fear, and it shows to have more positive outcomes than just fearing a leader.
Authors often try to interweave themes or meanings into their works in order to create a deeper and more intriguing work of literature. For instance, The Crucible, a film written by Arthur Miller, and “The Minister’s Black Veil”, a parable by Nathaniel Hawthorne, are two pieces of literature that share the recurring theme of how fear affects a person’s decision making. By examining two of the characters from The Crucible, Abigail Williams and John Proctor, one is able to see how fear can lead people into hysteria, causing them to do things they normally would never do. Another example of fear changing peoples’ views and actions is displayed in “The Minister’s Black Veil”. This theme is well displayed in the town’s responses to Mr. Hooper’s
Throughout one’s life, he or she will experience many situations where a lesson is learned, or a fear is amassed. One person may be able to deal with such terrors easily, while another will suffer because of the dread and panic that now haunts them. The poem ‘My Fear’ by Lawrence Raab discusses the haunting situation of fear following someone, and the personification, imagery, and tone of the speaker all provide depth to this seemingly innocent poem and allow one to truly appreciate how fear and troubles affect him or her.
In the words of Bertrand Russell, “Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom” (Russell). Fear causes many problems in our lives. Fear influences many of a person’s actions and decisions. However, people usually regret the decisions or actions they made out of fear. Also, these actions and decisions can cause problems for those people in their future. Fear is a harmful emotion, for it clouds people’s judgement, disables them from taking action, and causes them to make decisions that they will regret later.
She checks on the child and rushes to gives him a pacifier, but he won’t stop. She grabs a toy from the baby’s bag and hands it to the baby, but the baby throws it away. Her face...
Fear is an emotion that negatively influences people to shy away from their plans. Throughout the novel, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, many characters are overcome with fear and more specifically, the fear of loss and fear of the future. Coelho repeatedly shows that by conquering these fears, people are freed from the bounds of fear and therefore willing to take action on their dreams.
The popular culture always had its fears. Although these horrors changed in time, every era had one prominent fear. For the present time, popular culture has a large choice of horrors. Some of them are war, severe medical issues, and financial disaster. All of these horrors are issues for today’s society. Yet, the most prominent fear in popular culture is terrorist attacks. The world faces a new threat against peace all around the globe. One of the largest organization of terrorist in present days is represented by ISIS and radical Muslims.
further implies that part of what she must deal with inside of the box is related to him. In
“Primal Fear” (1996) is a masterfully crafted film based on the novel written by William Diehl. Aaron Stampler (the main character) was on trial for the murder of an archbishop. He cunningly convinces his psychiatrist as well as his defense attorney (Martin Vail) that he suffers from Multiple Personality Disorder. Stampler then plead for insanity successfully and was transferred to a mental institution for “help”. In the end, the audience shockingly discovers that Stampler had been lying the entire time about his alter ego; he manipulated everyone and clawed his way to freedom. “Primal Fear” provides excellent insight into psychopathy and contains subconscious themes the writer projects through the actions of the main characters.
I think it was at its peak from about the age of twelve to roughly