ariel by sylivia plath
"Ariel" has numerous meanings, all of which relate to the area of study, inner journeys. The main journey being that of a journey from life into death. In knowing that the poet, Sylvia Plath suffered from failed marriages, discrimination against gender and problems as a child, it can be assumed that the poem is autobiographical. With this it can be said that it is Plath as the protagonist of the poem who is undergoing a journey of rediscovering and defining herself. As seen through the different phases of the poem, in particular, "Godiva, I unpeel/dead hands, dead stringences". This is Plath's way of demonstrating her actions of living life and now her continuity of the journey into death. Plath's suicidal impulses, "Suicidal, at one with the drive", again reinforces this journey into death. The rising of the sun at the end of t
The poem is also a journey of a mentally ill woman, reflecting her suicidal impulses through poetry. Another way at visualising the poem is the experience of horse riding. In her early twenties, Plath rode a horse named "Ariel" at Dartmoor, Devonshire. he poem, "Eye, the cauldron of morning" acts as a symbol of happiness and the fulfillment as death being the only way to escape the tretry of life. All the connotations, the horse ride, the journey from life into death and the spirit in The Tempest represent the emotions she feels. The freedom felt whilst riding the horse no longer becomes a lesson of pleasure, rather the abandonment of restraints, such as a past self, "the child's cry melts into the wall". One that has overcome issues within her life. The use of the title "Ariel" brings another reoccurring issue to the poem. This can be seen through the style and structure of the poem. With this, it can be said that the poem represents freedom that is gained through mastery and control. From Shakespeare's the Tempest, Ariel was a spirit who longed for release and broke free. The fact that the poem ends on a positive note, the rising of the sun, can be seen as a way of saying that death, to Plath was the only means of happiness and the only way to escape the pain of life. The process of riding a horse can also be seen as a metaphor for the process of writing a poem. At the time of writing, Plath's 30th birthday, as mentioned before, she had already suffered greatly, a reason for the use of dark imagery, a phase of depression to a more colourful/positive images, "glitter of seas".
Common topics in this essay:
Dartmoor Devonshire,
Sylvia Plath,
Tempest Ariel,
,
horse ride,
riding horse,
suicidal impulses,
journey life death,
breaking free life,
life death,
free life,
breaking free,
journey life,
journey death,
writing poem,
poem represents,
|
Acceptance Essays
