Sylvia Plath's poem "The Applicant" is a scathing critique of traditional gender roles and the expectations placed on women in the 1950s. Through the use of dark and ironic language, Plath deconstructs the idea of a woman as a domestic object to be acquired and owned by a man.
The poem begins with the speaker, who is a woman, being treated as an inanimate object, with the man asking her "What is the principle of your life?" This question reduces the woman to a mere idea or concept, rather than a living, breathing human being with her own desires and motivations.
The man continues to question the woman, asking her if she is "meek and tidy," and if she can "cook and sew, make jelly and cake." These questions reinforce the stereotype of the ideal woman as a domestic servant, expected to perform household chores and fulfill the traditional roles of wife and mother.
However, Plath subverts these expectations through the use of dark and ironic language. The woman responds to the man's questions with a series of disturbing and unsettling responses, saying that she can "drain the whole sea" and "weep at a great distance," implying a sense of power and control that belies the submissive role prescribed for her.
Additionally, the man's repeated use of the word "sell" when describing the woman's potential as a wife serves to objectify and commodify her, turning her into a product to be bought and sold rather than a person with agency and autonomy.
Overall, Plath's poem "The Applicant" is a powerful critique of traditional gender roles and the expectations placed on women in the 1950s. Through the use of dark and ironic language, Plath exposes the absurdity and injustice of treating women as mere objects to be acquired and controlled by men.
The Applicant Poem Summary and Analysis
Posted on 2009-08-11 by a guest. Then it just grew out of that, I guess, a feeling that we both were writing so much and having such a fine time doing it, we decided that this should keep on. The applicant will be buried wearing the suit, the speaker declares. Plath describes the system of marriage in the form of terms and conditions in an interview. In fact, the speaker hints, new wives are built out of salt made from these very tears. Stanza 5 comes the closest to having a Repetition: There are many repetition throughout the poem. Plath had placed her head in the oven, with the gas turned on.
The Applicant (poem)
She moved only a couple of streets from her old residence with Hughes, to 23 Fitzroy Road with her two children. Plath critiques this model of marriage, hinting that it fails to truly address the root causes of these pathologies, unduly burdens women by expecting them to act as cure-alls, and even discourages men from becoming happier or more complete outside of marriage. In October 1962, a heartbroken Sylvia experienced what can only be described as an incomprehensible creative streak. In this book, author Stephanie Coontz discusses the how and why roles of marriage have changed over the years. Asian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities.
Sylvia Plath’s “The Applicant”
This piece was written during the turbulent times of the Feminist movement in the early 1960s. This is shown in lines 16-18; "To thumb shut your eyes at the end And dissolve of sorrow. She showed that even as, according to the society,a comparatively weak personcould fight for the right cause with her firmest weapon,her extraordinary style of writing. Then the interviewer offers him a suit. I also think that there is some ambiguity as to what the gender of the applicant is, however, if you feel like deconstructing and critically analyzing the poem further, the internet is as always, at your disposal. Because of the jobs these men left behind—and because of the need for wartime gear and resources—women were encouraged to join the workforce, offering them newfound financial and social independence. Will you marry it? Imagery: There is some pretty vivid imagery throughout the poem.
