Sylvia Plath

1
Sylvia Plath

• Poetry

2
(No Transcript)
3
Her Life

• Sylvia was born on October 27, 1932 in Newton,
  Massachusetts.
• She married Ted Hughes on June 16, 1956

4
(No Transcript)
5

• Sylvia and Ted had two children Frieda and
  Nicholas (1960, 1962)
• 1962 She learned of Teds infidelity and they
  separated.
• She died tragically on February 11, 1963.

6
Mirror

• I am silver and exact. I have no
  preconceptions.What ever you see I swallow
  immediatelyJust as it is, unmisted by love or
  dislike.I am not cruel, only truthful---The eye
  of a little god, four-cornered.Most of the time
  I meditate on the opposite wall.It is pink, with
  speckles. I have looked at it so longI think it
  is a part of my heart. But it flickers.Faces and
  darkness separate us over and over.Now I am a
  lake. A woman bends over me,Searching my reaches
  for what she really is.Then she turns to those
  liars, the candles or the moon.I see her back,
  and reflect it faithfully.She rewards me with
  tears and an agitation of hands.I am important
  to her. She comes and goes.Each morning it is
  her face that replaces the darkness.In me she
  has drowned a young girl, and in me an old
  womanRises toward her day after day, like a
  terrible fish.

7
Mirror

• Mirror gives voice to an inanimate object
• It reflects on a number of different themes
• The inevitability of old age death.
• Preoccupation with image
• A search for identity

8
Mirror

• Plaths use of personification
• Plath regularly uses inanimate objects with human
  qualities.
• In this poem the mirror speaks for itself
  describing its relationship with a particular
  woman.

9
Mirror

• Stanza 1
• The mirror expresses itself in a clear direct
  manner - I am silver and exact
• It reflects things exactly as they are.
• It does not pre-judge it has no preconceptions

10
Mirror

• The mirror is cold and emotionless.
• While a person may be dissatisfied or even upset
  by their mirror image, the mirror insists I am
  not cruel, only truthful.

11
Mirror

• When the mirror states that it immediately
  swallows whatever it sees. We are reminded of the
  inexorable (cant be stopped) passage of time.
• The image captured by the mirror at a particular
  point in time will never be exactly the same
  again.

12
Mirror

• The mirror describes how it spends its days
  meditating on the opposite wall.
• The mirror has been reflecting this wall pink,
  with speckles for so long that it feels the
  wall is now part of itself. I think it is a part
  of my heart.
• Only darkness and people separate the mirror
  from the wall.

13
Mirror

• Second section
• This section is concerned with the mirrors
  relationship with the woman on whose bedroom wall
  it hangs.

14
Mirror

• The mirror declares, Now I am a lake.
• The flat surface of a lake is reflective like a
  mirror.
• However a lake has hidden depths, so this
  metaphor also has connotations of danger.
• The woman searches the depths of the mirror/lake
  for what she really is.
• The woman seems to be struggling to discover her
  identity and find her way in life

15
Mirror

• The reference to tears and an agitation of
  hands points to the womans inner torment.
• The fact that the mirror is important to her
  indicates her insecurity.
• It would seem that she is deeply troubled by the
  ageing process

16
Mirror

• Closing lines
• They are particularly dramatic
• The lake metaphor is developed, with the
  mirror/lake describing how the woman has drowned
  a young girl in its depths, while watching old
  age daily rise towards her like a terrible
  fish.
• The closing image is startling and a little
  disturbing in its depiction of old age as an ugly
  monstrous creature waiting in the depths for us
  all

17
Themes Mental Anguish

• Like many of Plaths poems, this depicts mental
  turmoil. The woman in the poem is gripped by a
  fit of loneliness and despair as she examines
  herself in the mirror.
• We get a sense that much of this turmoil arises
  from the fact that she has lost her way in life
  and has lost her sense of identity.
• She gazes into the mirror attempting to locate
  and reconnect with her true self.
• Now I am a lake. A woman bends over me,/
  Searching my reaches

18
Themes Mental Anguish

• Several of Plaths poems touch on the idea of
  inadequacy and worthlessness. (Child, The Arrival
  of the Bee Box etc.)
• The speaker looks at her reflection in tears
  and turns away to the soft glow of candles as if
  she does not like what she sees.
• The woman seems deeply troubled by the prospect
  of ageing.

19
Personal Response Questions

1. Mirror has been described as a poem of images.
   Pick out three different images from the poem. In
   each case state whether or not you think it is
   effective.
2. The mirror claims it is important to the woman.
   In what ways might a mirror be important to an
   individual? Consider here psychological as well
   as purely practical reasons.
3. What do you think the mirror means when it says
   In me she has a drowned a young girl? What does
   the terrible fish represent?

20
The Arrival of the Bee Box

• In 1962, Plath her husband decided to take up
  bee-keeping.
• This poem describes the speakers unusual
  response to the arrival of a box of bees.
• It is a poem that can also be read on a symbolic
  level.

21
The Arrival of the Bee Box

• Poem opens in a straightforward, narrative-like
  manner I ordered this, this clean wood box.
• The simile that describes the box as being
  square as a chair is comfortably domestic,
  however, the metaphor that follow is strange
  unsettling, I would say it was the coffin of a
  midget/Or a square baby.
• This image is suggestive of death, giving the box
  a sinister/creepy quality.

22
The Arrival of the Bee Box

• The speaker has an ambivalent (unsure) attitude
  towards the box, being both fascinated
  frightened by it it is dangerousAnd I cant
  keep away from it.
• The description of the box suggests a sense of
  claustrophobia There are no windows /..no exit.

23
Stanzas 1-2

• Briefly describe the bee box in your own words.
• How would you describe the speakers initial
  reaction to the box? Is she surprised, delighted,
  worried?
• Why does the speaker describe the box as
  dangerous?
• Though the speaker thinks the box is dangerous,
  she is unable to stay away from it, why do you
  this is?

24
The Arrival of the Bee Box

• This sense of claustrophobia is reinforced by the
  startling, surreal imagery that follows.
• Peering in the little grid, the speaker senses
  the oppressive atmosphere within the box,
  underlining the sinister threatening atmosphere
  It is dark, dark/Black on black
• A surreal image portrays the bees as African
  slaves

25
The Arrival of the Bee Box

• It is the noise generated by the bees that most
  horrifies the speaker.
• The simile that compares the bees to a Roman mob
  suggests that she is in awe but terrified of
  their collective power it is like a Roman mob.
• The description of their buzzing as furious
  Latin suggests their incomprehensible anger. It
  is beyond the poets understanding.
• The speaker cannot control them I am not a
  Caesar.

26
Stanza 3-4

1. Describe in your own words what the speaker sees
   when she puts her eye to the boxs grid?
2. What most unusual image is used to describe the
   appearance of the bees inside the box?
3. How can I let them out? Why do you think the
   speaker is reluctant to release the bees?
4. Describe the speakers reaction to the sound
   coming from the bee box. What simile is used to
   describe this racket?

27
The Arrival of the Bee Box

• The speaker shows her more compassionate side
  when she wonders how hungry the bees are.
• Becoming more confident, she wonders what would
  happen if she simply released them I wonder if
  they would forget me/If I just undid the locks.
• There is a sharp contrast between the confinement
  of the box the freedom of the natural world.

28
Stanza 5- 6

1. What does the speaker mean she is not Caesar?
2. What options does she feel she has regarding this
   box that frightens her so much?

29
The Arrival of the Bee Box

• By close of poem the speaker no longer feels
  threatened they might ignore me/I am no source
  of honey.
• Feeling newly empowered the speaker decides to
  exercise her power in a positive way Tomorrow I
  will be sweet God, I will set them free/The box
  is only temporary.

30
Stanzas 6-7

• What does she finally decide to do with the box?
• The speaker declares that she will be sweet
  God. What does she mean by this?

31
Symbolism

• The bee box may be regarded as a symbol of the
  poets mind, and the angry threatening bees as
  symbols of the dark destructive aspects of her
  personality.

32
Key Points

• Key themes include power and control, repression
  and freedom.
• This poem is also open to a symbolic
  interpretation.
• It is a deeply personal poem- repeated use of
  I.
• There is use of startling imagery (stanzas 1 and
  3)
• The poet also makes effective use of
  simile/metaphor.

33
Exam Questions (2003) (OL)

• Question 1
• What impression of the poet, Sylvia Plath, do you
  get from reading this poem? What words or phrases
  from the poem especially help create that
  impression for you? (20)

34
Question 2

• The following list of phrases suggests some of
  the poets attitudes to the bee box
• She is fascinated by it
• She is annoyed by it
• She feels she has great power over it
• Choose the phrase from the above list that is
  closet to you own reading of the poem. Explain
  your choice, supporting your view by reference to
  the words of the poem.

35
Sample Answers

• Read the sample answers to Question 1 and 2 on
  your hand-out ..

36
Question 3

• Imagine you were asked to select music to
  accompany a public reading of the poem. Describe
  the kind of music you would choose and explain
  your choice clearly.(10)
• The box is only temporary
• What do you understand the last line of the poem
  to mean? (10)
• (Hint the line has to do with an important
  choice faced by the poet)

37
Child

• Plath expresses her love for her child while also
  revealing her inner torment.
• Also portrays the dark depression that regularly
  engulfed (surrounded) the poet.

38
Child

• Poet addresses her child in opening line, Your
  clear eye is the one absolutely beautiful thing
  this implies that everything else in speakers
  world is some way tarnished hinting at poets
  troubled mind.
• Plath wants to give her child beautiful
  experiences she wants to fill her eyes with
  colour and ducks. also evokes childs sense
  of innocence wonder.

39
First Encounter .

• The poet considers her childs eye to be the one
  absolutely beautiful thing.
• What does she long to offer the child? Make
  reference to the poem.

40
Child

• The closing stanza is contrastingly gloomy.
• She worries about her child witnessing her
  emotional turmoil and being affected by her
  anxiety, Not this troublous wringing of hands.
• The closing image is utterly bleak. This dark
  ceiling without a star.
• The total darkness of the poets depression
  conveys a sense of oppression confinement.

41
Child

• The April snowdrop metaphor child is
  representative of hope and new beginnings.
  (Spring)
• Little stalk without wrinkle metaphor suggests
  childs potential to grow blossom.

42
A closer look!

1. What sort of images does the poet consider
   appropriate for a young child?
2. Do you think the dark/ceiling without a star is
   a description of an actual room or a metaphor for
   the way the poet views her life?
3. Do you think that the poet expects too much of
   herself as a parent? Is her view of childhood and
   what a child ought to receive realistic
   (truthful) or idealistic (idea of what reality
   should be).

43
Theme Mental Suffering

• This is a short poem about a mothers anguish.
  The poet longs to provide her child with
  beautiful experiences but is unable to do so
  because of her own struggle with despair and
  anguish.
• She ends up feeling guilty and inadequate as a
  parent, and the perfection she sees in her child
  only adds to her feelings of inadequacy.

44
Important References Nature

• The flowers that the poet mentions are
  interesting April snowdrop, Indian pipe.
• The April snowdrop is particular beautiful (pure
  and white), while the Indian Pipe is less
  beautiful and is believed to exist in the
  darkened forest and feeds on decay.
• Perhaps Plath meant these flowers to represent
  the child versus mother.

45
A Closer Reading

1. Why do you think the poet uses so much plant
   imagery in the poem?
2. What is your personal response to this poem?

46
Sample Answer What is your personal response to
this poem?

• Child is one of the last poems Plath wrote
  before taking her own life and the poem showed me
  that she has lost confidence in herself as a
  mother. She believes she is unable to create the
  kind of joyful world she would like for her
  child. She wants to fill her childs eye with
  the zoo of the new. In my opinion, this phrase
  brilliantly emphasises how simple and exciting
  life can be. However, Plath is unable to do this
  because she is filled with anguish and despair.
  She doesnt want her childs clear eye to
  witness her pain. This feeling of helplessness
  made me feel very sad.

47
Sample Answer Continued .

• The poet believes she is incapable of being a
  good mother. I think it is an unhappy poem that
  shows the love and desires of a mother for her
  child but how her failure to fill the childs
  world with colour and ducks adds to her gloom.
  Feeling guilty and inadequate as a parent the
  poets world has become a dark ceiling without a
  star. While I found the poem quite upsetting, it
  helped me to understand the depression Plath was
  dealing with.

48
To Sum Up .

• The poem deals with the poets love for her child
  and her own depression.
• The poet uses memorable imagery.
• She uses clear and simple language.
• There is a stark contrast between the joy and
  colour of the childs world and the despair and
  darkness that has consumed the poet.

49
Questions

• What was your reaction after reading the poem
  Child. (10)
• How does the poet show a contrast between the
  world of the child and her own world?(10)
• .this is dark/ Ceiling without a star. What do
  you think the poet means by this?(10)

50
Helpful Starts!

• After reading the poem.
• I believe the poet is trying to convey..
• I believe the poet displays a.
• It is clear from the poem..
• There is a stark contrast between
• I feel Plath is trying to highlight.
• I think the poet is trying to suggest..

51
Poppies in July

• The title suggests a joyful poem about beauty of
  nature this is deliberately misleading.
• The poem is actually concerned with the speakers
  inner turmoil.
• The voice of the poet is clearly troubled.
• The opening metaphor sets the tone for the dark
  poem that follows, Little poppies, little hell
  flames.

52
Poppies in July

• The flowers are associated with evil hell.
• They can be dangerous, Do you do no harm?
• The movement of the dancing red flowers resembles
  that of a flickering fire.
• The image of the speaker putting her hands among
  the flames is disturbing because it seems to
  point to a self-destructive personality.

53
First Encounter .

1. Think about poppies. What colour are they? How
   would you describe them?
2. What does the poet compare the poppies to in the
   first four lines? Why do you think she makes this
   comparison?
3. How is the poets sense of frustration apparent
   in the opening lines of the poem?

54
Poppies in July

• The image of the bloodied mouth startles the
  reader because it links the poppies with physical
  violence, an unusual association.
• It is unsettling to see beautiful flowers being
  associated with violence and bloodshed.

55
Questions

1. Lines 5 to 8 describe the flowers violence and
   unsettling imagery. What does the poet compare
   the flowers to?
2. How would you describe the imagery of the first
   eight lines? What does the poets choice of
   imagery suggest about the state of mind?

56
Poppies in July

• The poet speaks about the drug produced by them
  opium.
• She wishes for the tranquillising effect of the
  drug, Where are your opiates, your nauseous
  capsules?

57
Poppies in July

• The speakers desperation to escape from her
  world is so enormous that she longs for the drug
  even though she knows it is sickening.
• It seems violence or sleep are preferable to her
  present state, If I could bleed or sleep.

58
Poppies in July

• Closing Lines
• The speaker expresses her longing for the
  dulling and stilling properties of opium.
• She is exhausted from watching the energetic red
  poppies. The poet yearns for oblivion, for a
  world devoid of colour colourless, colourless

59
Key Points .

• A key theme is the speakers longing to escape
  from the world.
• This is an intensely personal poem.
• The poem contains shocking imagery.
• A dark and despairing mood saturates the poem.
• There is a sharp contrast between the vividness
  and vitality of the flowers and the dull,
  lifeless world for which the speaker longs.

60
Key Points Language

• The poet uses two metaphor and a simile to
  describe the poppies
• She uses a metaphor when she compares them to
  little hell flames and when she compares the to
  little bloody skirts!
• She uses a simile when she says they are like
  the skin of a mouth.
• The poet use of repetition also suggests her
  mental agitation. little, colourless,
  capsule, and bloody.

61
Key Points Language

• Try to include these notes on language in any
  answer you give on Plath.
• For example The dark and despairing mood of the
  poet is made very clear through her use of
  metaphor. The comparison between the poppies and
  little hell flames showed me that

62
A closer reading lines 9-15

1. Think about the words opiates, Dulling,
   stilling and colourless. What do you think
   they have in common? What sort of condition does
   the poet long for?
2. The poet suggests that she is living in a glass
   capsule. What do you think she means by this? Is
   it a metaphor for her state of mind?
3. What image do you find most effective in the
   poem? Give reference to the poem.

63
OL Exam Style Questions

• Q.2 (a) Imagine that you are the poet. Write two
  diary entries that give your reaction to the poem
  a long time after you first wrote it. (20)
• OR
• (b)Which of the following statements is closest
  to your own feelings for the speaker of this
  poem?
• I admire the speaker
• I feel sorry for the speaker
• I am fascinated by the speaker (20)
• OR
• (c) The poem Poppies in July has little to do
  with actual poppies and much more to do with the
  mind that is thinking about them. Give your
  response to this statement. (20)

64
Morning Song

• A deeply personal poem.
• It describes Plaths feelings following the birth
  of Frieda, her first child.

65
Morning Song

• The poem describes the poets response to the
  birth of her child.
• The parents love set the childs life in motion
  and the poet likens the creation of life to the
  winding of a watch Love set you going like a
  fat gold watch. (Simile)

66
Morning Song

• The parents express their joy and enthusiasm at
  the birth. They magnify the arrival of the
  child and echo each others sentiments.

67
What kind of world is the child born into?

• However, the world into which the child is born
  seems cold and unsympathetic.
• It is unceremoniously greeted with a slap on the
  footsoles.
• The room is unhomely and lacking in warmth a
  drafty museum.
• There is a sense that the world is coldly
  indifferent to the childs existence. The world
  seems quite unwelcoming.

68
How is the child described?

• The child is described as a new statue, perhaps
  because it is to be observed and commented on,
  yet this comparison is lacking in tenderness and
  warmth. (Metaphor)
• The child is also described as very vulnerable.
  The poet refers to its nakedness and its bald
  cry.

69
How do the parents respond to the birth?

• The childs birth unsettles the parents and they
  are unsure how to act we stand round blankly
  as walls. (Simile)
• The childs vulnerability and need for protection
  makes them feel nervous and insecure your
  nakedness/Shadows our safety

70
How do the parents respond to the birth?

• The poet seems unsure about her relationship with
  the child. She does not feel like she has bonded
  with the baby.
• She says she can no more be considered the mother
  of the child than a cloud can be considered the
  mother of the rain that it creates, which forms a
  mirror-like pool upon the ground.
• I am no more your mother/ Than the cloud that
  distills a mirror (Simile)

71
A change in atmosphere .

• In the second half of the poem, the poet is at
  home with the child. The child is asleep in a
  room decorated with pink roses. The atmosphere
  is much warmer and safer than the opening of the
  poem.
• The child seems happy and safe, breathing softly
  and rhythmically. Its gentle breath is likened to
  that of a moth.

72
A change in atmosphere .

• The moment that the child begins to cry, the poet
  gets up to feed it. Her tiredness is evident when
  she says that she stumbles from bed.
• Yet in spite of this she rushes to feed her
  child, comparing herself to a cow that needs to
  be milked. This description of herself as
  cow-heavy introduces a light-heartedness to the
  poem that wasnt present at the start.

73
Theme Femininity and Motherhood

• The poem shows how being a mother can be a
  difficult experience.
• When the child is born the poet experiences
  doubts and uncertainties about her role as a
  mother
• She does not know how to respond to the birth.
  She and her husband stand blankly
• She feels less secure now that she has a child.
  She no longer has only herself to take care of,
  her needs are overshadowed by the childs
  vulnerability.
• She initially feels distant from the child. She
  likens herself to a cloud that has shed its rain
  and no longer bears a connection to what it once
  carried.

74
Theme Femininity and Motherhood

• However, when the poet is at home with the child,
  she begins to feel more at ease and comfortable
  about her role as a mother.
• The description of her rising in the night to
  feed the child is tender and loving. It suggests
  she is not as troubled by doubt and uncertainty.
• Like Child, Morning Song suggests that
  motherhood is not a straightforwardly joyous and
  natural experience. The responsibility that comes
  with the role can be overwhelming and daunting
  and it is very easy to feel inadequate
• However, unlike Child, this poem ends on a
  positive and uplifting note with the description
  of the childs notes rising like balloons

75
Language

• There are several unusual similes and metaphors
  in the poem
• The child is compared to a fat gold watch. The
  fact that the watch is gold shows that the child
  is valuable. However, it is quite a cold and
  mechanical comparison, hinting at the poets
  struggle to come to terms with her new role.
• She also describes the child as a new statue.
  This is a very cold and lifeless comparison to
  make with a baby. It suggest the poets feeling
  of detachment from the child.
• She also compares her connection to the child to
  that of the connection between a cloud and the
  rain it has shed. Again, this comparison
  highlights the poets struggle to feel a bond
  with her child.

76
Language

• Some of the similes and metaphors are more
  straightforward
• She and her husband stand round blankly as
  walls
• She likens the opening of the childs mouth as it
  begins to feed to that of a cat clean as a
  cats
• She compares the sound of the child breathing to
  the sound of a distant sea, and suggests that it
  is as faint and gentle as a moth.

77
Personal Response Questions

1. How did you respond to the poems description of
   the birth of a child in the first three stanzas?
   Did you appreciate the honesty and lack of
   sentimentality?
2. The first word of the poem is Love. Do you
   think that this is a poem about parental love and
   affection?
3. Consider how Morning Song and Child expose
   the terrible anxieties that can come with the
   responsibility of being a parent. How do the two
   poems compare?

78
POEM Theme Tone Imagery Mood Effect Other Poetic Techniques
Mirror Fear, ageing and inadequacy Detached Cold Personification rising fish Darkness Disturbing Personification Metaphor Language
The Arrival of the Bee Box Personal fears mental anguish inadequacy Frightened Fascinated Entrapment and freedom Triumphant optimism Unsettling Symbol Simile Metaphor Language
Child Love, despair and inadequacy Frustration Longing Childlike plant imagery dark Anguish Heart-breaking Metaphor Language
Poppies in July Fear and longing Dramatic Disturbed Emotional Sickness violence oblivion Dark and despairing Unsettling Misleading title Metaphor Simile Repetition Language
Morning Song Motherhood and birth Joyful Amazed Protective Museum separation babys cry Elation uncertainty Surprising, interesting Simile Metaphor Language