Beyond the Pleasure Principle: A Creativity for Self Recognition: A Study in Selected Poems of Sylvia Plath

Abstract

The poetry of Sylvia Plath attracts the attention of both readers and critics for her fabulous craft which she wields to dramatize her own embittered personal experiences. She remains one of the well known figures whose poetic works are critically appreciated and new phases of meanings and implications are innovatively concluded. Her poetic craft stems from her whirlwind relationships with her family members in addition to some other harsh events which force her to commit suicide in February 11, 1963. The present study aims to evaluate some selected poems of Plath from a Freudian perspective of the pleasure and reality principles and instincts cited in his theory of Beyond the Pleasure Principle. It also tries to show how the death instinct or Thanatos prevails to enable her to realize her true self lost under the heartrending impact of these harsh events by committing suicide.