Comment on Male-Female Relationships in Sylvia Plath’s Poetry?

Male-Female Relationships in Sylvia Plath’s Poetry

There are two kinds of male-female relationships in Sylvia Plath’s poetry: those between fathers and daughters and between husbands and wives. Neither relationship seems to be happy. In ‘Lesbos’ the husbands are impotent, useless, deserving of scornful dismissal. They could be said of the potential husband s in ‘The Applicant’. But at least these men are not physically threatening, as the black demi-devil husbands in ‘Daddy’ most definitely is. Here the husband is sadistic torturer. The silent, silver suited husband who brings the sinister gift in ‘A Birthday Present’ is alarming too. He torments his wife in different, more subtle ways. Overall, heterosexual love relationships are problematic in Sylvia Plath’s poems. Even when she writes excitedly about being pursued by a lover, there is a strong current of violence running through the poem, ‘Pursuit’, a suggestion that the female is the victim, the bait. She will be eaten up worn out, cast aside.

 

Discuss the Theme of Motherhood in the Poetry of Sylvia Plath with Special Reference to ‘Morning Song’.

Theme of Motherhood in the Poetry of Sylvia Plath

 
A number of poems of Sylvia Plath deal with mothering. Sylvia Plath is not sentimental about motherhood. It is not an unambiguously blessed state in her work. The most obvious positive statement about children is ‘you’re’, which can be read as a celebration of pregnancy. Here Sylvia Plath captures the affection and eagerness of the expectant mother. ‘You’re’ and ‘Morning Song’ suggest that Sylvia Plath saw babies as unique, individual personalities; the child is never simply an extension of the mother in her poetry. She observes babies closely, showing us the wonder of new life through her use of unusual and unexpected metaphors and similes to describe infants.

‘Morning Song’ was written by Sylvia Plath after the birth of her first child, ‘Frieda’. She intended that it should be the first poem published in the ‘Ariel’ collection. The tone is different from the cheerful mood of ‘you’re’, although the poet continues to explore feelings and ideas about motherhood that are familiar from the earlier poem.

Critically Comment on Yeats’s Use of Symbol.

Yeats’s Use of Symbol

 
Yeats’ poetry is replete with symbols. He has been called “the chief representative” of the Symbolist Movement in English literature. Indeed Yeats uses innumerable symbols. Often he coins symbols from his study of the occult, Irish folklore and mythology, philosophy, which are generally unfamiliar to the readers.It is true that French Symbolist Movement has a great impact on Yeats.

Yeats makes use of a complex system of symbols in his poems. In Yeats’ poetry generally symbols are of two kinds; the traditional and the personal as his repeated symbol of “Rose”. It is both a traditional as well as a personal symbol. The ‘rose’ in Yeats’ poem is generally used to mean earthly love but in “The Rose of the World” it also symbolizes eternal love and beauty. In “The Rose of Battle” the rose is a refuge from earthly love. The symbol, thus, becomes complex and has to be read carefully in the context in which it is used.

Show How Yeats’ Treatment of History and Myth in His Poetry.

Yeats’ Treatment of History and Myth in His Poetry

 
Yeats was greatly enthused by the charm of myth and used it in numerous poems to reveal his complex philosophical understandings.  Yeats was keen to replace traditional Greek and Roman mythological figures with figures from Irish folk lore. The juxtaposition of the Greek and the Irish myths, and his enthusiasm for old and modern philosophy has distinguished his poems from his contemporaries. The following discussion hinges round Yeats’ handling of myth, philosophy, and history along with a critical inquiry into some of his major poems.

 

 

Comment on the Treatment of Childhood in the ‘Poem in October’.

Treatment of Childhood in the ‘Poem in October’

 
Dylan Thomas has special fascination for childhood. He has written a number of poems on childhood and ‘Poem in October’ is one of them. Dylan resembles Wordsworth and William Blake in his attitude to childhood. Wordsworth sees a child from a distance and laments the fact that he can no longer see the heavenly radiance around the objects of nature as he had seen in his childhood. But Dylan like Blake becomes a child himself through imagination and can see and enjoy the beauty of nature through the eyes of a child.

 

 

Discuss the Use of Symbols in the Poetry of Dylan Thomas.

Use of Symbols in the Poetry of Dylan Thomas

Dylan Thomas makes extensive use of natural, conventional and private symbols to convey complex psychological states to his readers. He draws symbols from different branches of sciences, philosophies, myths, legends, literature, history, occult knowledge, Bible etc.

What does the Forest Represent In Story Young Goodman Brown

Symbolic Significance of Forest In Story Young Goodman Brown

 
In ‘Young Goodman Brown’, the forest has several symbolic dimensions. Hawthorne leaves us in no doubt that the forest represents the principle and practice of evil. Brown’s experience is derived from an internalized sin. He well understood that his mission was evil, and his acts impure, yet was surprised to find others whom he reverenced following the same path. His journey to the forest is

symbolic of Christian “self-exploration” in which doubt immediately supplants faith. The forest also represents the wild New World that was something to fear. Goodman Brown, like other puritans associate the forest with the wild “Indian” and see one hiding behind every tree. He believes that the devil could easily be present in such a place. Hawthorne also depicts the forest as the Garden of Eden. Goodman Brown appears to represent human beings confronted with his temptation-that is, he wishes to enter the dark forest of sin to satisfy his curiosity about the happenings there and perhaps even to take part in them. The man who meets brown in the forest appears to represent the devil. Goodman Brown is enticed by an entire forest. Like Adam, he suffers a great fall from innocence. Likewise, the dark forest is associated with danger, obscurity, confusion, and unknown or with evil, sin, and death as primordial symbol.

 

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Describe Beloved as an Allegorical Figure

Beloved as an Allegorical Figure

 
Beloved is the dead baby daughter of Sethe, whom Sethe kills to save her from being taken by the slave owner. As Sethe loves her child, she cannot let her suffer by being a slave. This dead baby comes back to Sethe’s life, in the house 124 bluestone, but as the form of spirit.

 

How Does Hemingway Show that Jake is Insecure about His Masculinity Early in the Novel?

Jake is Insecure about His Masculinity Early in the Novel The Sun Also Rises

 
Jake does not mention his insecurities directly. We must search for information about them in his reactions and descriptions of others. Jake takes a condescending attitude towards Chon. His description cast Chon as a weak, inexperienced man. Jake’s contempt seems to arise partly from Cohn’s feminized status. He characterized Cohn as timid and easily controlled by a strong woman like Frances. This emphasis on Cohn’s lack of masculinity can be seen as a reflection of

Jake’s own insecurities about his manhood. Also, Jake resent the group of male friends with whom Brett dances at the club. His statements about them subtly imply that they are homosexuals. Brett can safely get drunk around them, for instance, because they have no interest in having sex with her. Jake realizes that he should be tolerant, but admits that he is, in fact, disgusted by them. His irrational disgust likely stems from his perception of them as unmanly, illustrating his worries about his own manliness. Thus Hemingway uses Jake’s contempt for Cohn’s feeble masculinity and his reaction of abhorrence towards Brett’s homosexual friends to reveal his anxiety about his own masculinity.

 

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