Sylvia Plath's poem "Child" is a powerful and emotive reflection on the experience of motherhood and the complex feelings that can arise in the aftermath of giving birth. Through the use of vivid imagery and poignant language, Plath manages to capture the raw and primal emotions that are often associated with this life-changing event.
In the opening lines of the poem, Plath speaks of the physical and emotional toll of childbirth, describing the "red, swollen" body that she has become. This imagery immediately conveys the sense of exhaustion and vulnerability that can come with giving birth, and sets the stage for the raw and honest emotions that will follow.
As the poem progresses, Plath grapples with the weight of the responsibilities and expectations that come with motherhood, acknowledging the "fierce love" that she feels for her child but also acknowledging the overwhelming sense of loss and confusion that can come with this new role. She speaks of the "vacant motherhood" that she feels, as if the person she was before has been erased, replaced by this new identity that she is still struggling to understand.
At the same time, Plath also touches on the societal expectations and judgments that can accompany motherhood, particularly for women. She speaks of the "strange love" that others have for her child, and the way that they try to "possess" her and the baby through their words and actions. This speaks to the way that motherhood can be viewed as a performance, with expectations and judgments placed on women to conform to certain roles and behaviors.
Overall, "Child" is a poignant and thought-provoking reflection on the complex and often difficult experience of motherhood. Through the use of vivid imagery and raw emotion, Plath manages to capture the joys and struggles of this life-changing event, and speaks to the universal experience of trying to navigate this new and challenging role.
Child Analysis
Even the poem itself is based on the notion that the mother needs time to develop full maternal feelings, so beginning the stanzas with that concrete connection is effective. The converse of this desire is a concern that her child will instead confront images of anxiety and perhaps hopelessness. Your clear eye is the one absolutely beautiful thing. The poem suggests that becoming a mother can be both deeply disorienting and sublime. Critical Analysis Of The Bell Jar By Sylvia Plath 1755 Words 8 Pages The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath is a semi-autobiographical novel in which Plath relays her own experiences through protagonist Esther Greenwood by highlighting the struggles she faced in navigating societal expectations, depression, and her own desires. It is almost as though, in imagining a lovely life for him, she suddenly recalled that life is not limitless, but rather defined by limits a "ceiling" and pain. The poem also uses literary devices to give the poem its feeling.
Sylvia Plath: Poems “Child” Summary and Analysis
De Kok describes with a twist of irony how women and children are not only the first to be helped during a crisis, but also the first to be abused and hurt, especially in The Child Who Walk Backwards TPCASTT 914 Words 4 Pages She wanted to create an atmosphere where we are suspecting and doubting the words of the mother. The ceiling, with its connotations of enclosure and limitation, keenly contrasts the grandeur the speaker longs for. The contrast is harsh and unambiguous, as threatening as the first stanzas are promising. Buy Study Guide Summary This short poem is spoken from a mother to her child. When she imagines the world outside of him, she sees it as a cornucopia of lovely, pastoral experiences. . The poems tone shifts when the speaker begins to talk about themselves.
I am recently studying the work of Sylvia Plath, only 2 poems so far, and i admit i came onto this site for help in answering questions! This process is depicted through someone growing into their role as a parent by the usage of concrete ideas as comparative tools and simplistic language. Analysis Of Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar 976 Words 4 Pages Pressures from society and those around you can feel like a bell jar hovering over you. As she had bipolar disease, and was probably in e relatively good mood when this poem was wrote, she has experienced the terror the world we live in can bring. This event sparked a lifetime of depression and anger towards her father. According to Oliphant 2010:19 accentuation is a form of foregrounding that accentuates figurative and metaphorical information in a poetic text by means of syntactical deviation or from extra-patterning. Though the speaker claims the deaths are "nothing to be sad about"—from the moon's perspective, at least—the poem's hints of exhaustion, depression, and family conflict lend it a disturbing, tragic atmosphere. The speaker talks down on herself.
Your clear eye is the one absolutely beautiful thing. Plath surrounds images of beauty with the harsh reality of the world she lives in, and the poem is cleanly split between the first half, which provides a fantastical view of the world, and the second half, which presents the reality. I wake to listen: 12A far sea moves in my ear. Accentuation is evident in the last Another device of accentuation is repetition of words or phrases. See eNotes Ad-Free Start your 48-hour free trial to get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts. What the reader can infer from this idea is that the narrator is stepping into her maternal role, but she is also holding to more luxurious and self-indulgent concepts. The poem paints a surreal, intimate, and tender portrait of a woman navigating motherhood for the first time.
The speaker struggles to see her infant—who was so recently a part of her own body but who is now separate—as her own. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem. And now you try 17Your handful of notes; 18The clear vowels rise like balloons. Accepting abortion and the outcome can indeed be a challenging task for many, while others seem to adapt to it without much of a problem. Traumatic Events In Sylvia Plath's Life 2095 Words 9 Pages From the age of eight until her death, Sylvia Plath struggled with mental illness.
The American poet Sylvia Plath first published "Morning Song" in 1961, shortly after the birth of her first child. We stand round blankly as walls. She wants to fill the eye with colors, ducks, and "the zoo of the new. At the same time, she feels a deep sense of devotion and responsibility to this utterly vulnerable being. Some where deep inside her frustrations of not being able to live up to her own expectations are growing. The fourth stanza presents reality as Plath knows it - an upsetting, anxious, and bleak existence. It depicts an eerie scene in which a mother and her two children lie dead beneath a staring, indifferent moon.
Throughout the poem, the speaker shows signs of grieving concern of the topic of abortion and its outcomes by presenting emotions of regret and memories, shame and guilt, and contradicting herself to almost justify what she has done. I want to fill it with color and ducks, The zoo of the new Whose name you meditate — April snowdrop, Indian pipe, Little Stalk without wrinkle, Pool in which images Should be grand and classical Not this troublous Wringing of hands, this dark Ceiling without a star. At another level, the flowers function as metaphors for the child himself. Even though this poem was published decades ago, it can still be seen very relevant to this day. I picture an infant laying in a crib with his mother over him, wringing her hands, the dark ceiling without a star. The pressure of what a women should be, what opportunities to take, and her self doubt all become too much to grasp.
Leave a Reply Your email address will not be published. The author gives the mirror a voice for it to communicate its thoughts across to us. The last date is today's date — the date you are citing the material. Diving into the feelings of that process, it seems, is the purpose of this poem. . The second stanza activates a series of floral images at two levels. Having spent time in college and later in multiple mental health institutions, Plath tells her story through Esther in a way that blends fiction and reality.
We stand round blankly as walls. It is progress, but it happens while she maintains her own comfort and status. I think even though she is blessed with her first child born in the month of april she feels incomplete,she feels she is the not the right person to take care of the little baby. Crystal Stars Have Begun To Shine Poem Analysis 708 Words 3 Pages Even though she thought she is mature, she gets the sense that she is yet imature since it is her first time exploring sexuality. Further, there is an implication that she herself could be the cause of the pain, as though her own emotional instability might inspire him towards his own anxiety. One recurring topic of her poems is her father, Otto Plath, who she adored until he died of undiagnosed diabetes when she was eight.
The comparison of the child to such a flower capable of growing without sunlight evokes connotations of resilience and, again, hopefulness. The citation above will include either 2 or 3 dates. Sacrifice In Bruce Dawe's 'Drifters' 1833 Words 8 Pages The conflicting interests of the mother and the father result in a situation where one must make a sacrifice in order to preserve the connection in the family. I want to fill it with color and ducks, The zoo of the new Whose name you meditate - April snowdrop, Indian pipe Little Stalk without wrinkle, Pool in which images Should be grand and classical Not this troublous Wringing of hands, this dark Ceiling without a star. We stand round blankly as walls. Whatever the mother says, the reader is to take the opposite of what is really happening into account.
