Sylvia Plath's 'Daddy' as a confessional poem

Sylvia Plath's “Daddy” as a confessional poem

Q. Analyze Sylvia Plath's “Daddy” as a confessional poem.

Answer: The famous poem 'Daddy' by Silvia Plath is a prominent example of confessional poetry. This poem is not only inspired by personal experiences, but also gives a lively glimpse of the depths, pain, and resentment of the poetess's mind. Plath has boldly presented her emotional struggle towards his father in it.

Self -acceptance poetry emerged in the middle of the 20th century. In this poem, the poetess expresses her personal life, mental pain, and family relations openly. 'Daddy' is a part of this tradition. This poem represents the intense emotions associated with her father.

Its tone is intense and autism from the beginning of the poem:

"You do not do, you do not do / any more, black shoe / in which I have lived like a foot / for thirty years, poor and white."

Here the poetess sees her father as a black shoe, in which she was closed like a leg for thirty years. This image shows how many years the father's memory had held her. This is a deep personal experience.

The voice of the poetess, Plath is never loving, but it is full of anger, fear and hatred.

"I have always been scared of you, / with your luftwafe, your gobbledygoo."

Here the poetess sees her father as a horror power. She was not free from his influence. This fear remained continuously in her life.

Historical and cultural symbols are used in the poetry.

" I thought every German was you. / And the language obscene / An engine, an engine / Chuffing me off like a Jew."

Here she has compared her father to a Nazi. It is not an exaggeration, but an expression of deep fear and resentment rooted in her mind. This is the same style that appears in the self -compliance poetry - where the poetess brings the inner suffocation out through a symbol or image.

Another self -confession side of the poem is that Plath also sees herself as a victim.

"I made a model of you, / a man in black with a meinkampf look."

She admits that she repeated her father's image in her life. She chose the same person from which she could suffer. This is a clear glimpse of mental conflict.

In this poetry, Plath also mentions suicide attempt:

"At Twenty I Tried To Die / And Get Back, Back, Back to You."

This is another personal experience that is characterized by self -compliance poetry. Here she is telling that she also tried to die to meet her father. This makes the poem even more emotional.

At the end of the poem she rejects her father's image:

"Daddy, Daddy, You Bastard, I'M through."

This line is very strong. It is the final decision within them that she now wants to get out of this grief and pressure. This is an extreme moment of self -sanction.

Thus, the poem 'Daddy' is a very effective example of self -compliance poetry. In this, Silvia Plath has presented her personal life, mental conflict, and family relations with full honesty. They have manifested their inner pain through metaphors, symbols and straight language. This poem is not only the story of her personal experience, but it gives a voice to the suffering of all those who are broken under mental or family pressure. This poem by Plath was a revolutionary step towards self - confession literature.

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