Sylvia Plath And Anne Sexton - 1782 Words

Confessional poets in the 1950’s and 1960’s shaped confessional poetry into a type of writing that forever changed American literature. With controversial subjects at the time such as death, trauma, depression and how relationships impacted people, confessional poetry carved a gateway for private subjects and feelings to be expressed through autobiographical writing. The inspiration behind confessional poetry was the therapy it brought to the writer, being able to take personal experiences and thoughts and construct them into beautiful poems helped these writers cope with their personal experiences and feelings in a new, and constructive way. Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton were a major part of the confessional writing movement in the 20th†¦show more content†¦She continued her education at Smith College and Newnham College in Cambridge. This is where she met her husband, Ted Hughes. They married just a few short months after and had 2 children. The marriage to Hu ghes was very depressing for Plath, who had the knowledge of his many affairs. (â€Å"Sylvia Plath†, Poetry Foundation) The symptoms of her severe depression, the poor marriage she had and the events of her childhood, made a significant impact on her multiple suicide attempts which ultimately lead to her placing her head in the oven and killing herself. The idea of death is very apparent in many of Plath’s poems, she constructed her views and opinions of death from her external surroundings and experiences. By taking an external approach to the idea of death, Plath was able to display her poems and stories in a way that was much like a cry for help. For example, in the poem â€Å"Daddy,† Plath writes â€Å"I used to pray to recover you† (Plath,† Daddy†14) This quote demonstrates to the reader that the loss of her father was scary for her, and quite possibly a nightmare that she wished she could wake up from. Another quote in the poem â€Å"Da ddy† that exemplifies her want to die in order to reach her father again is in lines fifty-seven through fifty-nine where she states, â€Å"I was ten when they buried you. At twenty I tried to die and get back, back, back to you.† (Plath, â€Å"Daddy† 57-59). These three lines exemplify that she wished she could be dead to be with her fatherShow MoreRelatedSylvia Plath and Anne Sexton1240 Words   |  5 Pages â€Å" Confessional Poets† Sylvia Plath (1932-1963) and Anne Sexton (1928-1974) both explored similar themes such as tone, structure, and symbolism. Many of their poems were cries for help, which resulted into metal illness, depression, and suicide. In 1958, Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath met, and much to their surprise had a few things in common. They both were fascinated with death and suicide. Both Sexton’s and Plath’s poetryRead MoreThe Comparison and Contrast of Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath Essay example1646 Words   |  7 PagesComparison and Contrast of Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath The two poems, â€Å"And One for My Dame† by Anne Sexton and â€Å"Daddy† by Sylvia Plath, both explore similar themes through the use of literary elements such as structure, tone and symbolism. Structures in each poem are alike with length but differ with the actual form. The tone Plath conveys is negative one while Sexton’s is more neutral. The symbolism in â€Å"Daddy† was also negative with symbols of the devil but Sexton used a nursery rhyme as a symbolRead MoreThe Life of Sylvia Plath1006 Words   |  5 PagesThe Life of Sylvia Plath Sylvia Plaths life, like her manic depression, constantly jumped between Heaven and Hell. Her seemingly perfect exterior hid a turbulent and deeply troubled spirit. A closer look at her childhood and personal experiences removes some element of mystery from her writings. One central character to Sylvia Plaths poems is her father, Professor Otto Emile Plath. Otto Plath was diabetic and refused to stay away from foods restricted by his doctor. As a resultRead More Comparing Feminist Poetry by Plath and Sexton Essay1201 Words   |  5 PagesComparing Feminist Poetry by Plath and Sexton Poetry should be a shock to the senses. It should also hurt Anne Sexton believed (Baym 2703), and evidence of this maxims implications echoes loudly through the writing of Sexton as well as through the work of her friend and contemporary Sylvia Plath. Plath and Sextons lifetimes spanned a period of remarkable change in the social role of women in America, and both are obviously feminist poets caught somewhere between the submissive pastsRead MoreAnalysis Of Mary Hughes s Poem Lady Lazarus Plath 1067 Words   |  5 Pagesappear to remind her inner wounds of life. Frequently they seem to terrorize her with their openings; They (Tulips) are opening like the mouth of some great African cat..15. In her poem Lady Lazarus Plath confirms her strong faith in rebirth and resurrection: Out of the ash I rise with my red hair and I eat men like air16. It further makes obvious her repulsion on men. She believes that Suicide, Death and Resurrection may fetch her eternal happiness. That is why, it seems, she loves death. SheRead MoreAnne Sexton Confessional Poetry Analysis1192 Words   |  5 PagesConfessional poetry is the poetry of the personal or I, and it began to emerge in the late 50s and early 60s (A Brief Guide to Confessional Poetry). It is associated with poets like Robert Lowell, Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, W. D. Snodgrass, etc., with Lowell playing teacher for both Plath and Sexton. This poetry movement was all about opening closed doors, allowing the discussion of topics that were once considered forbidden and shameful. Anything once indecent to mention in polite company was usedRead MoreThemes Of Anne Sexton1069 Words   |  5 PagesThemes from Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Robert Hayden An Evaluation of themes from Mirror, Courage, Explorer, and Douglas During the 1900’s, a series of new poets came into existence. These poets brought about new themes and perspectives that manipulated the minds of humans all across the world. The poets that are in our study are Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Robert Hayden. These four poets wrote detailed, intricate poems that are packed full of a slew ofRead MoreThe Poetry Of Sylvia Plath1811 Words   |  8 PagesSylvia Plath is often described as a feminist poet who wrote about the difficulties women faced before womens right were a mainstream idea. From reading her poetry, it is quite obvious that Plaths feminism is extremely important to her, but she also wrote about a lot of day to day experiences and made them significant through her use of literary devices such as metaphors and symbols. Plath may also be best known for her autobiographical poetry written in a confessional style that appeared duringRead More##xiety In Courage, Gwendolyn BrooksThe Explorer, And Frederic k Douglass732 Words   |  3 Pagestheme that it focuses on, or does it? In these four poems, there is a strong sense of social anxiety, and then the overcoming of that with courage. In Sylvia Plaths Mirror, Anne Sexton’s Courage, Gwendolyn Brooks’ The Explorer, and Robert Hayden’s Frederick Douglass there is a strongly shared theme. To start off is the theme of social anxiety in Sylvia Plath’s Mirror. This poem is about a mirror that spends most of it’s days reflecting the wall, but occasionally, it is the friend of a man or womanRead More Preparing for Death in Sylvia Plaths Daddy Essay1424 Words   |  6 PagesPreparing for Death in Plath’s Daddy  Ã‚   Throughout the poem Daddy by Sylvia Plath, the author struggles to escape the memory of her father who died when she was only ten years old. She also expresses anger at her husband, Ted Hughes, who abandoned her for another woman. The confessional poem begins with a series of metaphors about Plaths father which progress from godlike to demonic. Near the end, a new metaphor emerges, when the author realizes that her estranged husband is actually the