In Ariel, Plath's voices are ultimately unable to recapture what is lost. To what extent do you agree?

To what extent do Plath's poems convey a disdain for patriarchal norms?

Reflect on the notion that Plath's poetry is preoccupied with death and demise.

In Ariel, Plath demonstrates that there is always a conflict between the self and one's society. To what extent do you agree?

Discuss the proposition that Ariel dismantles preconceptions about motherhood and marriage.

How does Plath communicate loss and loneliness in Ariel?

Discuss the significance of purity and its depiction in Plath's poetry.

The male figures in Plath's Ariel embody the patriarchal structures that suppress the personas. To what extent do you agree?

Reflect on the ways in which power and control are portrayed in Ariel.

Consider the significance of Plath's introspection in her poetry.

What is lost?

  • Autonomy and control over identity (effacement in Munich Maniquines), time in regards to motherhood, the trajectory of their own life due to consumerism (the applicant), peace (tulips)

However, the voices in Cut, Lady Laz and Daddy both transform from a helpless identity to assertive, dominant self

However, the voices in Nick, Morning Song and You're all FIND purpose as their child becomes their entire world.

However, the voice in Sheep in Fog, transcends physical restraints of society, finding psychological relief that is restricted from the voices in Munich

1) A minor amount of voices in Plath are unable to recapture autonomy and control over identity

  • Cannot regain control over their own life due to consumerism in 'The Applicant'
  • Effacement in 'Munich Maniquines'
  • Effacement in 'Tulips' (although this is seen as a positive thing as it strips the demands of society from the voice 'I am not responsible for the bombs and explosions' (check)

2) Although the voices are unable to recapture time in regards to motherhood, these voices are able to find true purpose in a consumerist society - Morning Song 'you are the one solid the spaces lean on,' Nick and You're

3) Plath challenges 1950's American Society that encourages the exploitation of the vulnerable through transforming helpless voices to assertive and dominant.

  • Cut
  • Lady Laz 'I rise'
  • Daddy: phone is 'cut off from the root'

4) Plath suggests that voices are able to recapture psychological relief through transcending the physical restraints of society

  • Sheep in Fog
  • Tulips
  • Contrast to Munich

1) Plath communicates loss of identity and autonomy

  • The Applicant (becomes a 'doll' that can 'talk talk talk' = loss of autonomy and given an identity, sucked into the demands of a consumerist.
  • Tulips 'my hands
  • Sheep in Fog

2) Loneliness in being ostracised from society

  • Lady Lazarus
  • Munich Maniquins (models are criticised heavily by the speaker who believes they are 'sulpher loveliness' and are likened to 'snow'

3) Loss and loneliness in the absence of motherhood

  • Nick
  • You're
  • Discuss the fear and anxiousness the speaker feels knowing her role as a mother is fleeting/temporary

1) Plath dismantles the preconception that the promise that marriage brings prosperity by imbuing a sense of cyclical entrapment in the domestic sphere.

  • The Applicant, the sales pitch is just to make the buyer feel back like it is his 'last resort'
  • ultimately the male is buried in his 'stiff suite'
  • marriage is therefore not the escape or pass from the pressures of society as you are even more trapped within the system than before.

What are the preconceptions about motherhood and marriage?

  • that marriage allows you to prosper in life as you have aligned yourself with societal norms (dismantled in The Applicant as the reality leaves both genders to suffer at the expense of a consumerist society as he is 'buried' in his 'black suite'
  • That motherhood is physically draining and you loose your identity (dismantled in Nick, You're and morning song as she finds joy and identity in her child)
  • That women desire nothing else but to bear children and be married (dismantled in Munich Maniquins, Daddy, Tulips and Sheep)

2) Plath further dismantles the preconception that motherhood is only physically and mentally demanding and leaves you striped of any identity

  • Through 'Morning Song' and' You're', the persona is in awe of the purity of the 'baby in the barn'
  • Is heavily contrasted to the 'cow-heavy mother' in Nick and the Candlestick who works tirelessly to protect her child from 'wars wars wars' by 'hanging the grave cave with blankets'

3) Plath dismantles the preconceptions that women's greatest desire is to bear children and be married.

  • Through Munich Mannequins
  • Through Tulips
  • Through Sheep
  • Through Daddy

1) Plath's poetry is preoccupied with death and demise as she condemns a voyeuristic and phallocentric society that thrives off oppression

  • Lady Laz 'peanut crunching crowd' 'do I terrify?'
  • Daddy 'the phone is cut off at the root'

However Plath's poetry is also preoccupied with redemption, motherhood and psychological relief.

in ariel, the reader is enciuraged to consider the value of human identity.

plath's voices urge the reader to evaluate their place in the world

in ariel, plath explores the conflict between self and the world

plaths poems create a sense of loss and despair. t what extennt do you agree?

plath suggests that, in a dangerous world, individuals must find their own meaning. discuss.

through effacement