Introduction

The Poetry for ‘Sylvia’s Death’ by Anne Sexton
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Executive Summary

Both Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton discovered the alleviation from worldly complexities through the scheme of suicide. Surprisingly, only Sylvia creepily rode on death by leaving her friend alone to experience the pangs of traumatic separation alone. She attained the succor of free selfhood through death while Anne pens her outburst and jealousy in the poem “Sylvia’s Death”. The poem has demonstrated the sorrow of isolation that the poet goes through. A sense of anger, despair and disappointment paralyses her psyche and she got vulnerable to the attack of an imbalanced self. Through the poignant style, inarticulate expression and harsh language, she exposed the ruthlessness of the material world. In addition to it, the nuance of a close relationship is brought about. She pours down the disturbed thinking when and how it feels to be separated from a friend without whom life meant empty one day. The meaning of friendship achieves a new meaning and profundity through the poem.

Table of Contents

Introduction. 4

Discussion. 4

Conclusion. 6

Reference. 7

Introduction

Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton were confessional and postmodern poets of America, who share a great bond. Both of them wanted to celebrate it in all its imperfections. To them, suicide is not an inhibited issue rather something like an adventure to relish with boldness.

Discussion

The poem ‘Sylvia’s Death” explores the frustrated psyche of Anne Sexton who has undergone the traumatic experience of severed friendship. The struggle is intensive to bear the treachery of a close friend who promised a life of togetherness one day. She is left devastated with a psychological upheaval so much so that the poet craves her death. The poem is rich in profound emotional and moral dilemma that offers a new dimension in the perception of literature (Goodspeed-Chadwick, 2021). The desperation is prominent to involve the reader who can feel the turmoil engendered out of deprivation, failed aspiration and jealousy. This is about digging in the universal experiences that everyone can relate to and the expression is artistically poignant. The captivating style highlights the depth of the personal anguish to create the emotional tremor. The art is cataclysmic and unwavering by the mighty touch of love and despair rolling into each other.

True pleasure does not arise out of rainbow contents; rather the intermingling of pain and pleasure offers a panoramic vision to the authors as well as the writers. This particular poem, demonstrate the completion of life through deception, trust, determination and at last hope. The fulfillment of life is attained through solitude yet the isolation is penetrating to engulf the personal happiness. Death assumes a new character of a drummer boy keeping on beating the old exchanges (Correia, 2018). At first, the horrendous vision is created out of fearing the appearance of death, surprisingly; it proves to be bringing in the delicate and fragrant atmosphere. The overflowing stanzas mirror the happiness that the poet finds in death. The word “suicide” might conjure up the image of terror, consternation trials and tribulations in general, yet the poet seems to be waiting for it. She thinks it is one of the best things to happen in the universe. Despite the craving, Sylvia was creepy to crawl onto the death alone. Death appears o handsome that the readers are reluctant to associate any negative attributes to it. It is as if so familiar to listen to all the worries and share all pangs of loneliness.

Sylvia and Anne both conspired between themselves to apply the stratagem of death. The scheme is to snatch own life romantically without creating any hassle in the surroundings sneakily. The plan has been hatched in a car journey but Sylvia betrayed her friend to embrace death alone leaving Anne nonchalant. Both of them craved the presence of death so intensively that Anne regrets having been ditched in thy mire of worldliness. And, that time, by her beloved friend who has not kept her promise of taking Anne along with her while parting away permanently (Wedding, 2020). She gets envious of the pleasure of emancipation that Sylvia attains in death. Contrarily, Anne is left alone to carry the burden of pain, depression and isolation. The narrator refers again and again: “you again// with death again, // that ride home // with our boy” to show outburst and wrath at the separation. The stuff that they both planned to accomplish is relished by Sylvia alone and Anne cannot endure this breach of trust any longer. The narrator metaphors that as if their boy has been stolen from them and she struggle with the same thought of envy that her friend is going to the world of celebration without taking her.

An undercurrent of nostalgia pervades the poem when Anne shares the nostalgic moment with her friends and allows the readers to enter the imaginary world of fractured selves. They both wanted alleviation while the only one relished the succour of free selfhood. Through all the recollection of the past day and the moment spent together, the readers can understand how a friendship can matter to the other-self. Life is thrown into uncertainty, apprehensions and dir challenges to face alone (Honsalies-Munis, 2018). Life gets broken and vacant to engender the existential crisis that an individual has to bear till the last day of her life. The desires are always something that the two lives together aspired to celebrate. Having found the right of celebration snatched away, the feeling is tremendously negative to eat into the psyche every time. The death is a constant reminiscence to the narrator that this is fabricated: “what is your death but an old belonging, a mole that fell out”. The comparison has been drawn to the belonging to implicate that is as familiar as skin tag that falls of. Even, suicide is not a big deal rather might be a way of celebration. Anne wants to have an intimate experience of death, which she fails to drink to.

Ann’s journey of bipolar disorder and depression finds a vivid outlet in the poem. Suicide is not something taboo and she wants to challenge the traditional viewpoints associated with death and suicide (Kristeva, 2020). The pillar of friendship is desire, trust, celebration and the loss of a friend gives Anne utter anguish to accuse her friend of cherishing the unique concept of suicide alone while they planned it together. She thinks this is a great injustice to have broken the promise between two friends who thought alike to celebrate life through adventures. Even the end of life is planned in a daredevil way; Sylvia partakes in the daunting task and gets successful and this makes Anne all the more jealous. The experience of betrayal is something she cannot accept personal and becomes victim to the whirlwind of emotional toil.

Conclusion

The poem “Sylvia’s Death” is an exponential example of confessional and post-modern poetry that upholds the compartmentalised psyche. Through the techniques of stream of consciousness, the narrator let the reader realize the meaning of true friendship. Also. they sense the lost selfhood of being betrayed by a close friend.

Reference

Correia, S. (2018). Confessar a morte: a poesia política de Anne Sexton e Sylvia Plath. Via Panoramica: Revista de Estudos Anglo-Americanos/A Journal of Anglo-American Studies, 7(1), 59-71. Retrieved from: http://acikerisim.karabuk.edu.tr:8080/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/1217/10393489.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Goodspeed-Chadwick, J. (2021). The Dual Literary Biography of Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton: A Review of Three-Martini Afternoons at the Ritz: The Rebellion of Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton by Gail Crowther. Plath Profiles: An Interdisciplinary Journal for Sylvia Plath Studies, 13(1). Retrieved from: https://etd.ohiolink.edu/apexprod/rws_etd/send_file/send?accession=uthonors1544711810525306&disposition=inli

Honsalies-Munis, S. (2018). BODY IMAGES IN THE POETRY BY ANNE SEXTON, SYLVIA PLATH, ADRIENNE RICH. Anglistics and Americanistics, (15), 119-126. Retrieved from: http://wwjmrd.com/upload/kamala-das-and-anne-sexton-as-confessional-poets_1548141512.pdf

Kristeva, J. (2020). THEMATIC ISSUES OF BODY, LANGUAGE AND SILENCE IN THE POETRY BY ANNE SEXTON, SYLVIA PLATH, ADRIENNE RICH IN THE LIGHT OF GENDER THEORY. ББК 74.04 я43 Р 64, 67. Retrived from: https://dspace.udpu.edu.ua/bitstream/123456789/12861/1/%D0%9C%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B3%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%84%D1%96%D1%8F%20%D0%A3%D0%B6%D0%B3%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B4%202020.pdf#page=67

Wedding, D. (2020). Cognitive distortions in the poetry of Anne Sexton. Suicide and Life‐Threatening Behavior, 30(2), 140-144. Retrieved from: https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/472541