Title Analysis: Ariel was the name of Sylvia's horse, as well as the name of a character from Shakespeare's The Tempest, who was released from duties by the protagonist.
Content: Plath describes a ride on her horse through the sunrise, past all of the shadowy objects around her. She muses on "how one we grow" to show that she is very close to her horse, as they ride haphazardly towards the rising sun.
Analysis: The poem has an overall positive tone, but still has references to death. I believe that Plath is trying to say that riding her horse gives her release from the things that are holding her back in life, as horseback riding makes you feel untouchable and free. I think that there is a glimmer of hope in this poem, because she and the horse are racing away from darkness and into the sun.
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
Edge - Sylvia Plath
Title Analysis: The title refers to the "edge" between life and death. This poem was the last known poem written by Sylvia Plath before her suicide, and has an overbearing tone of resignation.
Content: The poem as a whole glorifies death as "perfection" and an "accomplishment". It describes the physical appearance of death, and its finality. It also mentions Sylvia's children, and how she will no longer be able to care for them. At the end, it says "the moon has nothing to be sad about", and refers to the moon as female, which may imply that the moon is constantly in mourning for the females who choose to take their lives.
Analysis: Plath's death came less than a week after this poem was written, and most likely conveys her thoughts towards her impending suicide. She views death as a sweet release from life, and discusses death and decay as though she is resolved, embracing it. There is some sexual reference to the "night flower" and bringing her children back into it, which shows that her children are still a part of her, but she cannot continue living.
Content: The poem as a whole glorifies death as "perfection" and an "accomplishment". It describes the physical appearance of death, and its finality. It also mentions Sylvia's children, and how she will no longer be able to care for them. At the end, it says "the moon has nothing to be sad about", and refers to the moon as female, which may imply that the moon is constantly in mourning for the females who choose to take their lives.
Analysis: Plath's death came less than a week after this poem was written, and most likely conveys her thoughts towards her impending suicide. She views death as a sweet release from life, and discusses death and decay as though she is resolved, embracing it. There is some sexual reference to the "night flower" and bringing her children back into it, which shows that her children are still a part of her, but she cannot continue living.
Face Lift - Sylvia Plath
Title Analysis: Plath herself never had a facelift, but she is taking on the persona of someone who has had one.
Content: The first stanza is a narrative of the first surgical procedure the character had, which was a bad experience. The second stanza is a comparison of the facelift procedure and the other procedure; the facelift was a much better experience for the character. The third stanza discusses the recovery period of the character, and how her friends do not know she had the facelift done. It also contains a flashback to when the character was twenty years old with her first husband. The last stanza describes how the character no longer looks like an old lady, and has a tone of disgust towards the old face.
Analysis: Time is a huge motif in this poem; I believe that Plath is trying to say that as hard as this character is trying to feel young again, she never truly will be that twenty year old again. While this face lift makes the character feel good in the present, she has not truly reverted her age.
Content: The first stanza is a narrative of the first surgical procedure the character had, which was a bad experience. The second stanza is a comparison of the facelift procedure and the other procedure; the facelift was a much better experience for the character. The third stanza discusses the recovery period of the character, and how her friends do not know she had the facelift done. It also contains a flashback to when the character was twenty years old with her first husband. The last stanza describes how the character no longer looks like an old lady, and has a tone of disgust towards the old face.
Analysis: Time is a huge motif in this poem; I believe that Plath is trying to say that as hard as this character is trying to feel young again, she never truly will be that twenty year old again. While this face lift makes the character feel good in the present, she has not truly reverted her age.
Mirror - Sylvia Plath
Title Analysis: The Mirror is the speaker of the poem.
Content: The Mirror tells a narrative of how it shows people the truth, and is rewarded by their discontent and stress because of their appearance. People are so wrapped up in the way that they look, that it drags them down; this message is conveyed in the second stanza, when the mirror becomes a lake that a woman drowns in.
Analysis: This is Plath's commentary on obsession with physical appearance. The Mirror is neutral and truthful, only containing the reflection of what is there in front of it, and the people who see their reflection are constantly unhappy.
Content: The Mirror tells a narrative of how it shows people the truth, and is rewarded by their discontent and stress because of their appearance. People are so wrapped up in the way that they look, that it drags them down; this message is conveyed in the second stanza, when the mirror becomes a lake that a woman drowns in.
Analysis: This is Plath's commentary on obsession with physical appearance. The Mirror is neutral and truthful, only containing the reflection of what is there in front of it, and the people who see their reflection are constantly unhappy.
Two Sisters of Persephone - Sylvia Plath
Title Analysis: Persephone was the daughter of Demeter and Hades, who spent half of her life in the overworld, and half of her life in the underworld.
Content: In this poem, there are two halves of a person, or two separate people, presented; one of them is unhealthy and dark, while the other is healthy and happy in the sunlight. The dark sister is described as having wasted her life without children, dying "worm-husbanded". The light sister has a child, but also dies bitter and unhappy.
Analysis: Perhaps Plath is attempting to say that no matter what, a woman will die unfulfilled or unhappy because if she never marries, she will feel empty, but if she assumes responsibility as a mother, her happiness will also be sapped.
Content: In this poem, there are two halves of a person, or two separate people, presented; one of them is unhealthy and dark, while the other is healthy and happy in the sunlight. The dark sister is described as having wasted her life without children, dying "worm-husbanded". The light sister has a child, but also dies bitter and unhappy.
Analysis: Perhaps Plath is attempting to say that no matter what, a woman will die unfulfilled or unhappy because if she never marries, she will feel empty, but if she assumes responsibility as a mother, her happiness will also be sapped.
Thursday, September 8, 2016
9/8/16 Act 4 of Hamlet
Hello, all! Sorry to miss you today. Please review Ophelia's scenes in Act IV for homework, and compose a blog post reflecting on her madness. What did you notice about her scenes? What do you think about what happens to her? What is the point of her character for the play as a whole? Is there a way in which she symbolizes anything?
Also, please jot down a one-sentence summary of each scene in Act 4 for your future use when reviewing.
Ophelia's scenes in Act 4 make her appear to be genuinely mad. She speaks through songs, repeating "he is dead and gone" over in over in reference to her father. She also sings being abandoned on Valentine's Day, which may be a reference to how Hamlet left her. Clearly, the combination of these two events have driven her crazy, not knowing what to think about life as she knows it. I feel saddened by her death, because I thought that Hamlet would eventually come clean to her about truly having loved her. I believe the point of her character is to be a symbol for the state of Denmark. Her death by drowning when her robes became oversaturated with water could be representative of how Denmark is becoming so bogged down with sins that it too will sink.
Act 4 Scene 1: The Queen tells Claudius that Hamlet killed Polonius and is not really mad, and Claudius says they must send Hamlet to England.
Act 4 Scene 2: Hamlet disposes of Polonius's body and refuses to tell Rosencrantz and Guildenstern where he hides it.
Act 4 Scene 3: Hamlet tells Claudius where Polonius is hidden, and agrees to board the ship to England, while Claudius reveals that Hamlet is to be killed.
Act 4 Scene 4: Hamlet meets Fortinbras, and declares that from now on, he will seek bloody revenge.
Act 4 Scene 5: Ophelia is distraught about her father's death, and Laertes becomes enraged at the death of their father; Claudius agrees to help Laertes figure out who killed his father.
Act 4 Scene 6: Horatio receives a letter from Hamlet who says the ship has returned to Denmark, and they rendezvous.
Act 4 Scene 7: Claudius and Laertes agree to attempt to kill Hamlet in a joust, but will poison his drink in case he wins the joust; Ophelia commits suicide by drowning.
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Wednesday, September 7, 2016
9/7/16 Hamlet - "Fortune"
Select a word you think is vital to (and prevalent in) the play (revenge, action, rank, virtue, see(n), world, man, demon/angel, matter, bawd/harlot/strumpet or another word of your choice). Then use the following website to search that word just in Hamlet. Once you see when/where/how it appears so far in the play (through Act 4, Scene 2), write a paragraph on its significance. You may want to consider how the word is variously used and to what effect, who uses it and when/why, how it speaks to a larger question/theme/character issue. Basically, you're exploring this word as a representative one in the play thus far and telling us why.
http://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/search/search-keyword.php
The word "fortune" is used often throughout Hamlet. A synonym for fortune is luck; however, fortune is often used in irony in the instances in the play. Additionally, the word is typically seen capitalized, to refer to the Roman goddess Fortune, who was the bringer of luck, whether good or bad. Hamlet is the only character in the play to say the word fortune, and when he does so, he comments on the situation that Denmark has landed in. For example, when he reunites with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in Act 2 Scene 2, Hamlet says, "what have you, my good friends, deserved at the hands of Fortune that she sends you to prison hither?" Hamlet also often curses Fortune, such as in Act 2 Scene 2 when he calls her a "strumpet", to say that she has had too much influence on the circumstances. The use of fortune in the play represents the unfavorable conditions that the characters have been placed in, which Hamlet struggles with the most.
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