Sylvia Plath Daddy Essay
Sylvia Plath was born to middle class family in Massachusetts. Plath published her first poem when she was 8.She was bright, sensitive, was a perfectionist at everything she attempted. She was a brilliant kid, getting A grades in school, winning the top prizes. She was a model daughter. By 1950 when she joined Smith College she already had an remarkable list of publication. However Sylvia’s perfection was only superficial. Under this lay personal issues some of which probably were the result of the death of her father at the age of 8.Her father, Otto Plath had been a strict father, and both his dictatorial nature and his death drastically defined her social relationships and affected her poems. In 1956, she married English poet Ted Hughes and in 1960 when she was only 28 she wrote her first book The Colossus which was published in England. The poems in this book were clearly precise, well structured clearly showed the dedication Plath had showed towards her apprenticeship. Soon, she and Ted Hughes settled in a small English village in Devon. However the marriage broke apart in less than two years after the birth of their first child.
During the winter of 1962-63 Sylvia was living in small London flat with her two children ill with flu and low on money. The hardships of her life seemed to increase her need to write and she often worked for 8 hours straight, at times even finished a poem in a day. In these last poems it is as if some deeper, powerful self has grabbed control of her; death is seen as a central theme and psychological dilemmas become almost physical.
On February 11, 1963, Sylvia Plath killed herself with cooking gas at the age of 30.
Plath’s poems are often linked with the Confessional Movement. Her work is often singled out for its intense coupling of sadistic, violent imagery with playful alliteration and rhyme.
Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy” is a brutal, spiteful poem which is commonly understood to be about her father Otto Plath. The poem begins
During the winter of 1962-63 Sylvia was living in small London flat with her two children ill with flu and low on money. The hardships of her life seemed to increase her need to write and she often worked for 8 hours straight, at times even finished a poem in a day. In these last poems it is as if some deeper, powerful self has grabbed control of her; death is seen as a central theme and psychological dilemmas become almost physical.
On February 11, 1963, Sylvia Plath killed herself with cooking gas at the age of 30.
Plath’s poems are often linked with the Confessional Movement. Her work is often singled out for its intense coupling of sadistic, violent imagery with playful alliteration and rhyme.
Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy” is a brutal, spiteful poem which is commonly understood to be about her father Otto Plath. The poem begins
Cited: Beckmann, Anja. Sylvia Plath Homepage. 16 April. Web. 14 March 2013. Axelrod, Steven. "Sylvia Plath". The Literary Encyclopedia. 17 September 2003.Web. 14 March, 2013. Steinberg, Peter. Sylvia Plath Info. December 2007.Web.15 March 2013. Academy of American Poets.Poets Org.1996.Web.15 March 2013.