Sylvia Plath, an American poetess has written countless poems but sufficiently, tulips,mirror and ariel provide her views of women in society in an abstract representation. Her confessional poetry rose to fame as many of her poems were from experience of depression and everyday life. In her poems, Plath displays the constraints from society and the views and values individuals held over women. Through the poems of Mirror and Tulips, her acceptance of beauty is harsh as she exposes her views of herself due to carrying baggage, “like a cargo boat,” alluding how societal expectations are weighing down as well as her own children.Her comparison of herself to a ‘cargo-boat’ presents the overwhelming fear that she is not beautiful but at the same …show more content…
Plath opposes those views of society through the description of, “little smiling hooks,” once again referencing her children who are to meant to be symbols of joy. Plath perceives womanhood as something that snatches away her joy and leads her to fulfilling the wishes of men which was to cook and clean as that was encouraged for women in this time period like a “cargo-boat.”. Plath views on these values was that she was oppressed but as an poetess in the 1960’s people viewed her as outspoken which is where the “tulips eat [her]oxygen.” She contradicts herself due to being wed to Ted hughes at the age of 24 and complying to society's standards. Her feelings towards Motherhood are recast as she takes the influence of “White/Godiva” representing the female independence and the role of power that takes place in society's standards. Due to the poem being so fast paced, Plath refers to society being the cause of her chaotic feelings and emotions as society restricts her within her gender role such as the, “dead hands, dead stringencies” which are a burden on her referring to her children which allow no freedom. They compare the hands to her children to display the tightness of society that has ahold of her body. Within tulips, half the poem is revolved around the white setting and, “white walls,” whereas the other half is a red setting as she …show more content…
Tulips and Ariel contributed to the theme of death throughout the poem of ‘Tulips’ as all she wants is, “[her] hands turned up and[to] be utterly empty,” of the expectations that were placed on women from society. From the structure of ‘Ariel,’ it displays her chaotic mind and the transformation the speaker makes as she merges to become with the horse and, “the arrow” depicting the metaphorical death/rebirth of herself. The arrow represents the movement, allowing the audience to see the the transformation from the beginning as a powerless woman without the control as she, “cannot catch” to becoming the, “glitter of seas” in the wheat fields. Slowly the audience is able to piece together her growth in power due to letting herself become apart of the seas. In Tulips, Plath believes that she has ridiculed herself for thinking about the thought of death which she perceives herself as, “flat, ridiculous, a cut-paper shadow.” Death to Plath is a means of escaping society and the constraints that are set out. To the “numbness” that is brought by the anesthesia, this provides Plath with the peace she always longed for. Using a metaphor to compare, the audience is able to pick up how she is suffering due to the views that were set out for women demonstrating the struggles she faced due to having depression and having an occupation that wasn’t common within women. Plath displays within most of poems that she is often