Sylvia Plath

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Sylvia Plath

• Poetry

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Her Life

• Sylvia was born on October 27, 1932 in Newton,
  Massachusetts.
• She married Ted Hughes on June 16, 1956

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• Sylvia and Ted had two children Frieda and
  Nicholas (1960, 1962)
• 1962 She learned of Teds infidelity and they
  separated.
• She died tragically on February 11, 1963.

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The Arrival of the Bee Box

• In 1962, Plath her husband decided to take up
  bee-keeping.
• This poem describes the speakers unusual
  response to the arrival of a box of bees.
• It is a poem that can also be read on a symbolic
  level.

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The Arrival of the Bee Box

• Poem opens in a straightforward, narrative-like
  manner I ordered this, this clean wood box.
• The simile describes the box as being square as
  a chair is comfortably domestic however, the
  metaphor that follow is strange unsettling, I
  would say it was the coffin of a midget/Or a
  square baby.
• This image is suggestive of death , giving the
  box a sinister/creepy quality.

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The Arrival of the Bee Box

• The speaker has an ambivalent (unsure) attitude
  towards the box, being both fascinated
  frightened by it it is dangerousAnd I cant
  keep away from it.
• Description of the box suggests a sense of
  claustrophobia There are no windows /..no exit.

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Stanzas 1-2

• How would you describe the speakers initial
  reaction to the box? Is she surprised, delighted,
  worried?
• Why does the speaker describe the box as
  dangerous?
• Though the speaker thinks the box is dangerous,
  she is unable to stay away from it, why do you
  think this is?

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The Arrival of the Bee Box

• This sense of claustrophobia is also clear in the
  surprising imagery that follows.
• Looking in the little grid, the speaker senses
  the threatening atmosphere within the box, It is
  dark, dark/Black on black.
• A surreal image portrays the bees as African
  slaves

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The Arrival of the Bee Box

• It is the noise generated by the bees that most
  horrifies the speaker.
• The simile that compares the bees to a Roman mob
  suggests that she is in awe but is terrified of
  their collective power, it is like a Roman mob.
• The description of their buzzing as furious
  Latin suggests their anger. It is beyond the
  poets understanding.
• The speaker cannot control them, I am not a
  Caesar.

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Stanza 3-4

1. How can I let them out? Why do you think the
   speaker is reluctant to release the bees?
2. Describe the speakers reaction to the sound
   coming from the bee box. What simile is used to
   describe this noise?

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The Arrival of the Bee Box

• Speaker shows her more caring side when she
  wonders how hungry the bees are.
• Becoming more confident, she wonders what would
  happen if she simply released them, I wonder if
  they would forget me/If I just undid the locks.
• There is a sharp difference between being trapped
  in the box and the freedom of the natural world.

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The Arrival of the Bee Box

• By the end of the poem speaker no longer feels
  threatened, they might ignore me/I am no source
  of honey.
• Feeling newly confident speaker decides to use
  her power in a positive way, Tomorrow I will be
  sweet God, I will set them free/The box is only
  temporary.

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Symbolism

• The bee box may be regarded as a symbol of the
  poets mind, and the angry threatening bees as
  symbols of the dark destructive aspects of her
  personality.

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Key points

• Key themes include power and control, a feeling
  of being trapped and freedom.
• It is a deeply personal poem- repeated use of
  I.
• There is use of very unusual imagery (stanzas 1
  and 3)

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Question 2

• The following list of phrases suggests some of
  the poets attitudes to the bee box
• She is fascinated by it
• She is annoyed by it
• She feels she has great power over it
• Choose the phrase from the above list that is
  closest to you own reading of the poem. Explain
  your choice, supporting your view by reference to
  the words of the poem.

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Child

• Plath expresses her love for her child while also
  revealing her inner torment.
• The poem also portrays the dark depression that
  regularly surrounded the poet.

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Child

• Poet addresses her child in opening line, Your
  clear eye is the one absolutely beautiful thing
  this shows us that everything else in speakers
  world is some way damaged hinting at poets
  troubled mind.
• Plath wants to give her child beautiful
  experiences she wants to fill her eyes with
  colour and ducks. we get a sense of a childs
  sense of innocence wonder.

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First encounter

1. The poet considers her childs eye to be the one
   absolutely beautiful thing. What does she long
   to offer the child? Make reference to the poem.

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Child

• Closing stanza is extremely gloomy.
• She worries about her child witnessing her
  emotional anxiety and being affected by her
  depression, Not this troublous wringing of
  hands.
• The closing image is utterly bleak, This dark
  ceiling without a star.
• The total darkness of the poets depression shows
  a sense of oppression and being trapped.

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Child

• The April snowdrop metaphor the child
  represents hope and new beginnings. (spring)
• Little stalk without wrinkle metaphor suggests
  childs potential to grow blossom.

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A closer look!

1. What sort of images does the poet consider
   appropriate for a young child?
2. Do you think the dark/ceiling without a star is
   a description of an actual room or a metaphor for
   the way the poet views her life?
3. Do you think that the poet expects too much of
   herself as a parent? Is her view of childhood and
   what a child ought to receive realistic(
   truthful) or idealistic (idea of what reality
   should be).

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Mental Suffering

• This is a short poem about a mothers despair.
  The poet longs to provide her child with
  beautiful experiences but is unable to do so
  because of her own struggle with despair and
  misery.
• She ends up feeling guilty and inadequate as a
  parent, and the perfection she sees in her child
  only serves to add to her feelings of inadequacy.

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Exam Question

• What is your personal response to this poem?

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Helpful starts!

• After reading the poem.
• I believe the poet is trying to convey..
• I believe the poet displays a.
• It is clear from the poem..
• There is a stark contrast between
• I feel Plath is trying to highlight.
• I think the poet is trying to suggest..

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Sample Answer

• Child is one of the last poems Plath wrote
  before taking her own life and the poem showed me
  that she has lost confidence in herself as a
  mother.
• She believes she is unable to create the kind
  of joyful world she would like for her child. She
  wants to fill her childs eye with the zoo of
  the new. In my opinion, this phrase brilliantly
  emphasises how simple and exciting life can be.
  However, Plath is unable to do this because she
  is filled with anguish and despair. She doesnt
  want her childs clear eye to witness her pain.
  This feeling of helplessness made me feel very
  sad.
• The poet believes she is incapable of being a
  good mother. I think it is an unhappy poem that
  shows the love and desires of a mother for her
  child but how her failure to fill the childs
  world with colour and ducks adds to her misery.
  Feeling guilty and inadequate as a parent the
  poets world has become a dark ceiling without a
  star. While I found the poem quite upsetting, it
  helped me to understand the depression Plath was
  dealing with.

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Key themes

• The poets love for her child and her own
  depression.
• The poet uses memorable imagery.
• Use clear, simple language.
• There is a stark contrast between the joy and
  colour of the childs world and the poets
  despair and darkness has consumes the poet.

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Poppies in July

• Title suggests joyful poem about beauty of nature
  misleading.
• Poem concerned about speakers inner turmoil.
• The voice of the poet is clearly troubled.
• Opening metaphor sets the tone for the dark poem
  that follows, Little poppies, little hell
  flames.

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Poppies in July

• The flowers are associated with evil hell.
• They can be dangerous, Do you do no harm?
• Movement of the dancing red flowers resembles
  that of a flickering fire.
• Image of speaker putting her hands among the
  flames is disturbing because it seems to point
  to a self-destructive tendency.

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First encounter

1. Think about poppies. What colour are they? How
   would you describe them?
2. What does the poet compare the poppies to in the
   first four lines? Why do you think she makes this
   comparison?
3. How is the poets sense of frustration apparent
   in the opening lines of the poem?

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Poppies in July

• The image of the bloodied mouth startles the
  reader in its linking of the poppies with
  physical violence.
• Unsettling to see beautiful flowers being
  associated with violence bloodshed.

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First look

1. Lines 5 to 8 describes the flowers violence and
   unsettling imagery. What does the poet compare
   the flowers to?
2. How would you describe the imagery of the first
   eight lines? What does the poets choice of
   imagery suggest about the state of mind? How do
   you thin the poet is feeling?

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Poppies in July

• The poet speaks about the drug (opium) produced
  by them.
• She wishes for the tranquillising effect of the
  drug, Where are your opiates, your nauseous
  capsules?

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Poppies in July

• The speaker is so desperate to escape from her
  world that she longs for the drug even though she
  knows it is sickening.
• It seems that violence or sleep are preferable to
  her present state, If I could bleed or sleep.

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Poppies in July

• Closing Lines
• Speaker expresses her longing for the dulling
  and stilling properties of opium.
• Exhausted from watching the energetic red
  poppies, she yearns for oblivion (forgetfulness),
  for a world devoid of colour (colourless,
  colourless)

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Key points

• A key theme is the speakers longing to escape
  from the world.
• This is an intensely personal poem.
• The poem contains startling imagery.
• A dark, despairing mood saturates the poem.
• There is a sharp contrast between the vividness
  and vitality (liveliness) of the flowers and the
  dull, lifeless world for which the speaker longs.

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Language

• The poet uses two metaphor and a simile to
  describe the poppies
• She uses a metaphor when she compares them to
  little hell flames and when she compares the to
  little bloody skirts!
• She uses a simile when she says they are like
  the skin of a mouth.
• The poet use of repetition also suggests her
  mental agitation. little, colourless,
  capsule, and bloody.

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A closer reading lines 9-15

1. Think about the words opiates, Dulling,
   stilling and colourless. What do you think
   they have in common? What sort of condition does
   the poet long for?
2. The poet suggests that she is living in a glass
   capsule. What do you think she means by this? Is
   it a metaphor for her state of mind?
3. What image do you find most effective in the
   poem? Give reference to the poem.

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Exam Style Question

• Q.1 (a) If I could bleed or sleep!. If the
  speaker is neither bleeding nor sleeping, what
  kind of existence is she experiencing? Explain
  your answer. (10)
• (b) What does the reference to this glass
  capsule say to you about how the speaker views
  her life? (10)
• (c) If my mouth could marry a hurt like that!
  In your opinion, what longing is expressed in
  this line? (10)

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Exam Style Question

• Q.2 (a) Imagine that you are the poet. Write two
  diary entries that give your reaction to the poem
  a long time after you first wrote it. (20)
• OR
• (b)Which of the following statements is closest
  to your own feelings for the speaker of this
  poem?
• I admire the speaker
• I feel sorry for the speaker
• I am fascinated by the speaker (20)
• OR
• (c) The poem Poppies in July has little to do
  with actual poppies and much more to do with the
  mind that is thinking about them. Give your
  response to this statement. (20)