Marital Suffering in Sylvia Plath’s Poetry: A Feminist Reading
This article discusses marital suffering, as portrayed by Sylvia Plath from a feminist viewpoint, and claims that her delineation of marital afflictions is a tool of protest against patriarchal oppression. In a convention-ridden patriarchal society, a woman usually cannot express her voice and remai...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.2478/abcsj-2020-0008 |
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doaj-53338c498de94097b8346474cecdb0f32021-09-06T19:40:56ZengSciendoAmerican, British and Canadian Studies Journal1841-964X2020-06-0134112414610.2478/abcsj-2020-0008abcsj-2020-0008Marital Suffering in Sylvia Plath’s Poetry: A Feminist ReadingMozumder Subrata Chandra0Daffodil International University, Dhaka, BangladeshThis article discusses marital suffering, as portrayed by Sylvia Plath from a feminist viewpoint, and claims that her delineation of marital afflictions is a tool of protest against patriarchal oppression. In a convention-ridden patriarchal society, a woman usually cannot express her voice and remains suffocated by her personal agony and ache. However, Plath tries to break the conventions in her poetry, by representing the unjust institution of patriarchal marriage, which treats women as commodities. Many critics have noted that Plath’s marital sufferings are responsible for her suicidal death, which is a means of protest against, and resistance to, patriarchy. Since her poetry represents both her psycho-social suffering and her fight against the margins set by patriarchal society, one may consider her poetry to be a weapon of setting her “self,” as well as other women’s, free from male-dominated psychological imprisonment. The article explores how Plath’s poetic persona emerges as the Phoenix, the libertarian spirit, by deliberately exposing her marital sufferings, psycho-sexual torture, husband’s infidelity, and the ultimate death resulting from conjugal unhappiness, which is interpreted as a protest against all kinds of patriarchal discriminations.https://doi.org/10.2478/abcsj-2020-0008patriarchymarital sufferingssubjugationsuicidal deathresistancefeminist reading |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Mozumder Subrata Chandra |
spellingShingle |
Mozumder Subrata Chandra Marital Suffering in Sylvia Plath’s Poetry: A Feminist Reading American, British and Canadian Studies Journal patriarchy marital sufferings subjugation suicidal death resistance feminist reading |
author_facet |
Mozumder Subrata Chandra |
author_sort |
Mozumder Subrata Chandra |
title |
Marital Suffering in Sylvia Plath’s Poetry: A Feminist Reading |
title_short |
Marital Suffering in Sylvia Plath’s Poetry: A Feminist Reading |
title_full |
Marital Suffering in Sylvia Plath’s Poetry: A Feminist Reading |
title_fullStr |
Marital Suffering in Sylvia Plath’s Poetry: A Feminist Reading |
title_full_unstemmed |
Marital Suffering in Sylvia Plath’s Poetry: A Feminist Reading |
title_sort |
marital suffering in sylvia plath’s poetry: a feminist reading |
publisher |
Sciendo |
series |
American, British and Canadian Studies Journal |
issn |
1841-964X |
publishDate |
2020-06-01 |
description |
This article discusses marital suffering, as portrayed by Sylvia Plath from a feminist viewpoint, and claims that her delineation of marital afflictions is a tool of protest against patriarchal oppression. In a convention-ridden patriarchal society, a woman usually cannot express her voice and remains suffocated by her personal agony and ache. However, Plath tries to break the conventions in her poetry, by representing the unjust institution of patriarchal marriage, which treats women as commodities. Many critics have noted that Plath’s marital sufferings are responsible for her suicidal death, which is a means of protest against, and resistance to, patriarchy. Since her poetry represents both her psycho-social suffering and her fight against the margins set by patriarchal society, one may consider her poetry to be a weapon of setting her “self,” as well as other women’s, free from male-dominated psychological imprisonment. The article explores how Plath’s poetic persona emerges as the Phoenix, the libertarian spirit, by deliberately exposing her marital sufferings, psycho-sexual torture, husband’s infidelity, and the ultimate death resulting from conjugal unhappiness, which is interpreted as a protest against all kinds of patriarchal discriminations. |
topic |
patriarchy marital sufferings subjugation suicidal death resistance feminist reading |
url |
https://doi.org/10.2478/abcsj-2020-0008 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT mozumdersubratachandra maritalsufferinginsylviaplathspoetryafeministreading |
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