Sylvia_Plath_Essay

how does paths use of personal voice shape emotional and intellectual responses to her poetry' Sylvia Plath was an American poet born in 1932. Although at times referred to as the golden girl, Plath lived a chaotic and bipolar life. A disappointed wife and bereaved daughter, she was a suicidal mother of two, her electrically charged perceptions and amplified imagination that evolved out of her own inner torment. Plath’s continually varying mental state which has been attributed largely to the familial demons of her childhood played a large part in the mood and personal voice which can be heard in her confessional style of poetry. Plath is considered one of the most emotionally evocative poets of the post war period. Although she did not achieve widespread acclaim as a poet until after her lifetime she managed to address some of the major issues still being faced in society such as self-consciousness, depression, more specifically suicide, sex and her pioneering views on the societal limitations of women for which she is best known for. It is through her views on patriarchal society which has lead her to great acclaim due to feminist movements have using her as an icon for feminist rights. We are here today to discuss Plath’s use of personal voice and how it has shaped emotional and intellectual responses to her poetry using three of her poems, Electra on Azalea Path, You’re and Ariel In the poem Electra on Azalea Path several of these themes are addressed and through her prominent personal voice heard throughout the poem we are able to empathise and thus gain a better emotional understanding of the text. Electra on Azalea path is a confessional poem written after Plath visited her father’s grave for the first time in 1959. We gain a better understanding of the anguish Plath went through by her use of imagery, juxtaposing of words, references and extended metaphors. The opening lines of the poem gives the audience an immediate insight into the pain and confusion she felt after the passing of her father. “The day you died I went into the dirt”, this can be seen as a metaphor that she died the day he did. Referring to her mental state as a “hibernaculum” she explains to the reader that she is in denial about her fathers existence to avoid the pain of his death, “God-fathered into the world from my mother’s belly”. Plath’s personal voice can be heard clearly throughout the poem as she elaborates on the denial of her father’s true existence and the effects it had on her life saying “it was good for twenty years. That wintering as if you never existed....”. and elaborating on her feelings towards her father as an Electra complex in the title and in the forth stanza, “i borrow the stilts of an old tradegy.” These references to an Electra complex were harshly critiqued and thus give the reader ever more understand of her animosity towards convention. “You’re” is another poem in which a heavy presence of Plath’s personal voice can be heard. It was written in 1960 before the birth of her and ted hughs’s daughter. The poem can be interpreted as Plath talking to her unborn child. It contemplates the baby as an embryo. That its sex is not specified in the title can be viewed as an attempt by Plath to define what the embryo is and what it can be regardless of gender. This emulates Plath’s attitude on patriarchal society and is an example of how Plath expresses her opinions in her writing therefore instilling the text with her personal voice. A happy tone is captured in the first analogy through its opening word “Clownlike” and is conveyed throughout the poem such as the concluding comical reference to the idea of having a baby being like having a bun in the oven “o high riser my little loaf” in the first stanza. However the major theme of the poem is that the embryo contradicts the flawed existence of the world. The embryo to plath is perfection, “right, like a well done sum” uncorrupted by the troubles of the world. She hopes for the babies bodily and spiritually well being. she believes that the baby will begin life with a clean slate, without prejudice. Plath’s personal voice is conveyed strongly throughout the poem as it is her personal fears for her unborn child that she is writing about. Her voice is further expressed by her use of similes including “like a sprat in a pickle jug”. These similes can be likened to Plath’s own unusual style of baby talk. The poem Ariel was written in the months before Plath’s successful suicide and is one of her most well known poems. It is about a horse Plath rode named “Ariel and how she wishes to be as powerful and free as riding the horse made her feel. This personal reference to a horse she rode gives the audience a personal voice to gain understanding from. The name of the poem Ariel could have several implied meanings, the Shakespearean spirit from The Tempest, suggesting her spiritual connection to the horse. ‘Ariel’ translated from Hebrew also means ‘God’s lioness’, which is an example of the constant reference to religion shown frequently in her poems, as well as representing her idolisation of her father. Plath uses the metaphor of a new day to advocate to her audience that she is approaching change. The structure of the poem adds to this metaphor and the mood felt in the poem with the 3 line stanzas helping the audience to perceive the growth of the day and an increase in freedom and power. She further builds on this theme of freedom by referencing to Godiva. A women who rode naked on horseback to promote feminism. Although Plath is most probably referring to her to encompass her own feelings of freedom not necessarily the feminist beliefs which Godiva was indorsing. The prominent personal voice heard in Sylvia Plath’s Poetry helps the reader to better empathise and shape intellectual and emotional responses. It is this ability of Plath’s to instil her personal voice so prominently that has allowed her poetry to become timeless and make her work remain relevant to current day readers.