Essay 2
Sylvia Plath paints a picture of how society is unapologetically patriarchal. In ‘Munich Mannequins,’ she begins by saying, “Perfection is terrible, it cannot have children.” (Plath, line 1) She refers to the inanimate objects that are human-like and seem to have no flaws. Plath says this in response to the widely shared view that women alter their perfection by giving birth. In society, men lose their attraction after women give birth because they perceive their beauty has declined. Their allure fades, and some husbands resort to cheating after their women give birth. This poem communicates the message that women cannot be objected since they have a womb. Just like mannequins cannot procreate, women cannot be perfect. They are perfectly imperfect, as are all human beings, and “the blood flood is the flood of love.”(Plath, line 6)
Plath paints a society where women are considered unequal and inferior to men when it comes to marriage. In ‘The Applicant,’ Plath explains that a woman has to follow certain procedures to be considered a wife (Plath, lines 1-40). She compares these conditions and qualifications to a job interview. Regarding the “wife materials,” men are thorough in choosing women as their wives. In ‘The Applicant,’ the woman is asked whether she has any body flaws, and when she does not have any flaw, she is ‘offered’ a flaw (Plath, line 7). The poem also paints women in marriage as mere objects. A woman is called “it,” and if the woman is compliant with whatever “it” is told, marriage is guaranteed. Plath says that if the woman brings “teacups and roll away headaches” (Plath, line 12) and does “whatever you tell it,” (Plath, line 13), that woman is qualified to get married. In the same poem, Plath criticizes how a man thinks of himself as perfect while flawed. She states that although man is sometimes stupid and has nothing to offer, society will always protect him. The society cloaks men’s imperfections virtue of how they dress and not their manners or virtues. The same poem points out women’s imperfections and says that their only duty in marriage is to please men. For instance, Plath says that a woman is, “A living doll, everywhere you look” (Plath, line 33) and that “It can sew, it can cook” (Plath, line 34) irrespective of her age.
In ‘Mary’s Song,’ Sylvia Plath brings out the dark side of man. She writes about the gruesome holocaust. In the poem, she says, “The ovens glowed like heavens, incandescent” (Plath, line 18) to paint how the Jews were burnt alive. The poem depicts the inhumane treatment that they were given, how their blood was shed, and how the smell of their burnt bodies lingered in the air. This poem alludes to the oppression that exists in this world for minorities. It voices the pain of being oppressed without fault. The only fault that one is being accused of is being born in a certain community. It paints the darkness that is in this world when one is not on the majority side. Ultimately, it addresses the other side of human nature that must never be seen. Plath also used the Holocaust event to symbolize American women’s entrapments.
Plath also paints out instability in marriage. She talks of cheating and suspicion in marriage. She also talks about prenatal depression. In her poem, “The Other,” Sylvia writes, “You come in late, wiping your lips.” (Plath, line 1) When one wipes one’s lips, it usually is to erase the evidence of either eating or kissing. In addition, coming in late into one’s home implies that activity caused the delay. The woman is suspecting her husband of cheating. Cheating is one of the critical problems in marriage. From a statistical point, men cheat more than women do, which is why many marriages fail. Cheating is more pronounced when women are pregnant, and men claim not receiving intimacy from their partners. These men look for other sexual avenues, leaving their wives and spouses at home. This often leads to prenatal depression and desperation of their companions because they feel abandoned. This depression can encourage self-harmful tendencies and develop other negative coping means. For instance, in the same poem, Plath says, “Between myself and myself, I scratch like a cat.” (Plath, line 27) This could imply that she has developed harmful ways of coping, such as self-harm.
Sylvia Plath also talks about depression throughout her poems. Specifically, in “Brasilia,” she speaks of a world that exists after her death. She intended to take a leave of life (Tisby) and how long she intended to do this. The title of her poem pays tribute to the new capital city built in Brazil. It was built after Brazil gained independence. This is of significance because Plath felt that after her suicide, she would find peace in a new world. This world would be free of depression, hurt, and turmoil.
In the poem, she says, “People like light rays, leave.” (Plath, line 19) She had tried to commit suicide before but wasn’t successful. This depression was culminated “in the terrible fall of 1962, when her marriage to Hughes had fallen apart” (O’Malley). Her depression was also stemming from her childhood traumas. She had lost her father at a young age, and suicide was never that far away from her thoughts. Depression is one of the worst issues when it comes to families. Furthermore, when severe underlying issues are addressed, new stresses will always increase the risk of committing suicide.
In conclusion, through her poems’ themes, she feels like the world has a rubric for the perfect woman, not for a man. The expectation that society demands from the woman are too much to bear. The balance between the genders is severely unequal, and she feels like she cannot tip the scales. There is an air of despair about her poems that eventually culminates in her death.
Works Cited
“The Munich Mannequins By Sylvia Plath”. Hello Poetry, 1963, https://hellopoetry.com/poem/709/the-munich-mannequins/.
O’Malley, Sheila. “Present Tense: Sylvia Plath Goes To The Movies.” Film Comment, 2019, https://www.filmcomment.com/blog/present-tense-sylvia-plath-goes-to-the-movies/.
Tisby, Jemar. “The Truth And Brasília, 2: Torsos Of Steel”. Truth And Rocket Science, 2020, https://truthandrocketscience.com/2009/10/19/the-truth-and-brasilia-2-torsos-of-steel/. Accessed 8 Oct 2020.
“The Applicant By Sylvia Plath | Poetry Foundation.” Poetry Foundation, 2020, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57419/the-applicant.
“The Other By Sylvia Plath”. Hello Poetry, 2020, https://hellopoetry.com/poem/711/the-other/.
“Brasilia – Sylvia Plath”. Internal.Org, 2020, https://www.internal.org/Sylvia_Plath/Brasilia.
“Mary’s Song By Sylvia Plath.” Allpoetry.Com, 2020, https://allpoetry.com/poem/8498373-Marys-Song-by-Sylvia-Plath.
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