Sylvia Plath Poem Comparison Essay - 1826 Words

Sylvia Plath Poem Comparison Essay Saying Sylvia Plath was a troubled woman would be an understatement. She was a dark poet, who attempted suicide many times, was hospitalized in a mental institution, was divorced with two children, and wrote confessional poems about fetuses, reflection, duality, and a female perspective on life. Putting her head in an oven and suffocating was probably the happiest moment in her life, considering she had wanted to die since her early twenties. However, one thing that was somewhat consistent throughout her depressing poetry would be the theme of the female perspective. The poems selected for analysis and comparison are, †A Life†(1960),†You’re†(1960), â€Å"Mirror† (1961), â€Å"The Courage of Shutting-Up† (1962) and†¦show more content†¦The last few lines seem to attribute her depression to her age, and maybe the fact that she never got to enjoy her childhood, her young years, and she despises seeing herself grow old in the reflecti on of the lake. â€Å"The Courage of Shutting-Up† was written in 1962, a year before Sylvia’s end, and uses the ideas of repetition, speech, and censorship to express her ideas on female obedience and civil censorship. The female perspective here is the idea of not being able to speak out, and living in repetition, with a defeated tongue- hung up on the wall like a trophy. The poem uses many different types of diction, but most of it is masculine, and war-like, as if Plath was fighting a war against men. The first stanza of the poem begins with â€Å"The courage of the shut mouth, in spite of artillery!† and follows with bits of diction to describe a record player, with â€Å"black disks†¦ of courage†¦Ã¢â‚¬  as to describe Plath’s thoughts and feelings just playing over and over again, â€Å"asking to be heard.† The second stanza continues with the record player metaphor, â€Å"a needle in its groove†, and transitions to an overqualified tattoois t in the third stanza, once a surgeon (maybe a metaphor for Sylvia’s downgrade from a great poet to a dumpy mother) who repeats the same overused tattoos over and over, silently, and solemnly. The fourth stanza returns to the metaphor of war, and artillery as well as the record player. The tongue is introduced, and is described as â€Å"indefatigable,Show MoreRelatedSylvia Plath Comparison Essay1339 Words   |  6 PagesComparison: Sylvia Plath’s â€Å"Tulips† and Mary Oliver’s â€Å"Poppies† Throughout time females have found it hard to achieve acceptance and accreditation in the world of poetry. However, two American female poets, who were born in the 1930’s, did make a name for themselves. During this era of rapidly changing gender roles, social values and world politics, these women were able to produce a rich variety of poetry. These poets are known for their driven personalities and their captivating poems about alienationRead Morequot;Sylvia Plath- Feminine Side of the Feminist Iconquot; Essay1576 Words   |  7 Pages Sylvia Plath was a typical example of her generation, inpatient and greedy for life but this description has a bit different meaning. Plath indeed desired artistic fulfilment but she wanted to be an ideal wife and mother at the same time. 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