Mutilating Self Into Spirit: Sylvia Plath's Poems.

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Sylvia Plath’s poems: Translation of the self into spirit, after an ordeal of mutilation. Introduction of the poems and the essay:
* “Daddy”

Sylvia Plath uses her poem, “Daddy”, to express intense emotions towards her father’s life and death and her disastrous relationship with her husband. The speaker in this poem is Sylvia Plath who has lost her father at age ten, at a time when she still adored him unconditionally. Then she gradually realizes the oppressing dominance of her father, and compares him to a Nazi, a devil, and a vampire. Later, the conflict of this relationship continues with her husband which led to a short and painful marriage. In “Daddy” by Sylvia Plath, the author illustrates her feelings of anger and resentment towards her father and husband along with being oppressed for most of her life through her poetic devices of vivid metaphor, imagery, rhyme, tone, and simile. 

* “Lady Lazarus”

The subject of "Lady Lazarus," a much-quoted poem in which Plath compares herself to that Biblical figure once resurrected by Christ (and to a cat with its nine lives) because she has been "resurrected" from attempted suicide three times. The poem is also an act of revenge on the male Ego.

* “Irony as a principle of Structure” an Essay by Brooks.

Cleanth Brooks article makes a lot of claims about the importance of metaphors and irony in literature. He has highlighted the use and importance of irony in a very impressive and literary way. His article "Irony as a Principle of Structure" is an excellent piece that stresses and underlines the importance of irony in poetry. According to Brooks, this was one way to visualize the impact of the context in regards to the literary techniques. The backbone of his article is the irony used in any literary work. He believes that this is the key technique to make the poetic or any literary piece more impressive but it should be used with great sense. With the help of different examples he also explained the difference that irony can make in the context like sometimes using irony changes the actual theme of the context. Therefore it is very important to be careful while using irony, as it is a very important element. The Design of the paper:

The paper is divided into three major parts. Firstly, the analysis of the poem “Daddy”, secondly, relating the poem with the essay and lastly, looking at the poem, “lady lazarus” in the light of the earlier discussion. About her personal life: Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Plath was the eldest child of Aurelia and Otto Emil, a German-born professor at Boston University who authored a notable treatise on bumblebees. An undiagnosed diabetic, Otto died in 1940 after complications resulting from surgery to amputate his leg. Upon her husband's death, Aurelia secured a teaching position at Boston University where she trained medical secretaries. Shaken by the loss of her father, Plath took an early interest in creative writing and began to publish poetry and short fiction in various magazines,including Seventeen and the Christian Science Monitor. A precocious and highly motivated student, Plath attended Smith College on a scholarship beginning in 1950. There she continued to win academic distinctions and was selected in 1953 to serve as a student editor for Mademoiselle magazine in New York City. During the same year, she lapsed into an episode of severe depression, culminating in a suicide attempt for which she was hospitalized and treated with electroshock therapy. Under psychiatric care, Plath returned to Smith College the following year, completed an honors thesis on Fedor Dostoevsky's fiction, and graduated summa cum laude with a degree in English in 1955. The next fall Plath set off for Cambridge, England, to attend Newnham College on a Fulbright Scholarship. While overseas, she met poet Ted Hughes, whom she married in June of 1956. After completing her master's degree at Cambridge in 1957, Plath settled with Hughes in the...
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