Death Representation in Sylvia Plath's Selected Poems

Abstract

Abstract: Death is one of the significant and recurrent themes in the poetry of Sylvia Plath. This paper aims at showing the poet's attitudes towards death. Certain poems are selected to show the poet's different attitudes to death: death as a rebirth or renewal, and death as an end. Most obvious factors shaped her attitudes towards death were the early death of her father that left her unsecured, and the unfaithfulness of her husband, Ted Hughes, who left her dejected and melancholic. Plath's 'Two views of a Cadaver Room', 'Sheep in Fog', 'A Birthday Present', 'Edge', and 'I Am Vertical' are selected to outline her various perspectives towards death.