The Minotaur Poem Analysis

In “The Minotaur”, metaphor is used in a variety of ways. Hughes takes a domestic incident, and transforms in into an exploration of the difficult relationship between himself and Plath, his wife. Though this exploration, Hughes uses the myth of the Minotaur as a creative starting point from which he draws his metaphors.
By titling the poem “The Minotaur” Hughes draws on the historical context of the myth. This is particularly effective in assisting the poem to explore “haunting memories of his dead wife and their wild destructive love” . In the myth, the relations of the Minotaur’s family are complex and difficult to understand, possibly mirroring the relationship Hughes portrays here between him and Plath. The Minotaur, who Plath is linked to in the poem, presents a series of emotional connotations. Although the Minotaur is often seen as an aggressive, murderous animal, some presentations of it show the Minotaur as a thing to be pitied.
In Ted Hughes’ work, the metaphor of the Minotaur reoccurs, especially in ‘Birthday letters’. One interpretation of this is that …show more content…
The violent and “disturbing emotions” that Plath has been restricting exert themselves as destruction. A reader might see Plath’s creative block being mirrored in the poem, as the repetition of “smash” could represent this. Another example of lexical clumsiness could be the word “stuff”, as it feels vague, and not of poetic language. This could show that both Hughes and Plath are at a dead end in their creative process. The language in this stanza, however, could be seen as almost hopeful, as Hughes seems to be finally involving himself in the poem. Instead of describing the events of the poem in a detached way, constantly using “you”, he starts to talk about Himself and Plath as a unit “we’ll”. However, this can also be seen as negative, with some critics saying it shows Hughes trying to control Plath’s