Sylvia Plath Essay

life trying to find themselves. The journey to self-discovery is present in The Bell Jar, for the novel focuses on the narrator, Esther Greenwood as she struggles to find herself. Through the skillful use of various literary devices, the author, Sylvia Plath, presents the theme of identity in the novel. The first introduction of Esther’s lack of identity is presented in the very first chapter of the book when she introduces herself under a fake name, Elly Higginbottom, to a man she meets in…

“Ariel” Sylvia Plath’s Ariel is one of the most renowned collections of poetry from the twentieth century. These poems were written during the last years of Plath’s life before she committed suicide and gives us a unique insight into the inner workings of her mind. Her estranged husband and fellow poet, Ted Hughes, published Ariel in 1965 after Plath’s suicide. In these poems Plath transcends to become her true self; the tone is cool, amused, bitter, and unnervingly charming. This collection is…

Sylvia Plath is a novelist and a short story writer but she is most known for her poems. Some of her most famous poems are “Daddy”, “Morning Song”, and “The Applicant”. The poem “The Applicant” is about someone trying to sell a women to a man by making her seem as if she can do anything for him and it’s the man’s last resort. This poem can be looked at from a biographical, feminist, formalist, or psychoanalytic lens. Through a biographical lens you can see that “The Applicant” shows how Sylvia…

A very prominent theme throughout the book, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath was that thoughts haunt people which creates a bell jar around people, trapping them in the vortex of madness which is their mind. In the beginning of the book Esther contemplates what it would be like to be “burned alive” through electrocution (1). This thought essentially comes back to haunt Esther when she talks to Hilda who is “glad [the Rosenbergs are] going to die (99),” which contributes to the accumulation of…

American author, Ralph Ellison, once wrote, “When I discover who I am, I’ll be free.” In The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, the main character Esther is left at loose ends when the novel ends as to whether or not she will be released from a mental institution. As the reader follows Esther’s descent and ascension from her mental illness, it is wholly unclear as to what will become of her at the end; however, it is heavily implied that Esther is released from the mental hospital because of the…

The poem “Daddy,” by Sylvia Plath is a descriptive poem of Plath’s feelings towards her dead father. The grief stuck by her father passing, heavily impacting her way of life. Plath had a hard time growing up because she felt alone without her father and she felt incomplete because she never got a chance to know her father or what he was like. Plath claims she is “through,” but evidence shows that she did not come to terms with her father because her suffering, aggression, and disrespect towards…

The novel, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, is about a young woman name Esther Greenwood who is working for a magazine company as a temporary editor in New York. While working for a magazine company that often threw many female stereotypes at her, Esther is found in between either her sweet, innocent and safe friend Betsy, or the more daredevil, outgoing and rebellious friend Doreen. Seeing as Doreen is very open on a sexual front, Esther finds herself having a difficult time between the societal…

Sylvia Plath is a well renowned poet from the late 1950s and early 1960s. Plath is well known for her controversial and pessimistic poems though some of her best pieces are joyous texts. Throughout each of these texts Plath has developed a specific key idea. It is believed that Plath’s most important ideas that she develops throughout any of her texts are, nature being a brutal relentless force, the oppression of women and finally, the extreme feelings of joy and love that children bring to…

Sylvia Plath: A Powerful American Writer In a time where women were to be seen and not heard, to stay in the kitchen, and do everything their husband told them, there was someone different. Sylvia Plath was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1932 and died in London in 1963. Her father was a german immigrant and her mother was American born. Sylvia Plath was generally considered one of the most powerful American writers to have emerged since the 1940’s. But she didn’t start out that successful.…

look good. Specifically, Sylvia Plath was oppressed in her literary life by Otto Plath and Ted Hughes. These two men influenced her writing in many different ways. Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy,” reflects the biographical context of how growing up with her father and her relationship with her husband affected her writings. Sylvia Plath’s father inspired her writings by their “bond” and his death. Otto is always spoken about in a negative way. In John Rietz’s article, Sylvia Plath states, “He was an…