The reflection of sylvia plath`s suicidal manner and suicide attempts in ``lady Lazarus`` as seen through the imagery - USD Repository
THE REFLECTION OF SYLVIA PLATH’S SUICIDAL MANNER AND SUICIDE ATTEMPTS IN “LADY LAZARUS” AS SEEN THROUGH THE IMAGERY
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
FAJAR ADITYA YUNARTO
Student Number: 014214115
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2007
]âwzx ÇÉà? à{tà çx ux ÇÉà }âwzxwA
YÉư ã|à{ ã{tà }âwzẫxđà çx }âwzx tđw ã|à{ ã{tà ẫxtáâưx çx
Åxàx? |à á{tÄÄ ux ÅxtáâÜxw àÉ çÉâ tzt|Ç
(Matthew 7: 1-2)
This undergraduate thesis is dedicated to My bel ved mothe o r
My special sister My loyal brother and
My lov ly T lica e e
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to thank my God the almighty, Jesus Christ, for the blessing and guidance, and for giving me the strength to finish my thesis.
My gratitude goes to my family for being my motivation, and for their supports to my education, their love and patience. My special thank goes to Telica, my beloved person, for her love, attention, patience, tenderness and care. This thesis would not have finished without her participation. I thank her for being a friend during those bad times and good times. I am sorry for many mistakes that I have done and for many tears that I gave.
I thank Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd., M.Hum. as my advisor, for her time and her patience, and for her advice that is very helpful for my undergraduate thesis, and for being my academic advisor, for her helps during my time in the Department of English Letters, Sanata Dharma University. I also thank Gabriel Fajar Sasmita as my co-advisor, for the corrections and suggestions.
I thank all of my friends in the English Letters Department of Sanata Dharma University that I cannot mention one by one for the cheerful friendship and colorful memories they have given to me. I also want to thank my friends Mita, Tommy, Deva, Wahyu, Troy, Tetra, and Andre for their helps and friendship that have given me the spirit to carry on.
Last but not least, I would like to thank all the lecturers of the English Letters Department, staff, security, and all of the people that I cannot mention one by one for all the supports and helps.
Fajar Aditya Yunarto
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ....................................................................................................... i APPROVAL PAGE ............................................................................................. ii ACCEPTANCE PAGE ........................................................................................ iii MOTTO PAGE .................................................................................................... iv DEDICATION PAGE ......................................................................................... v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................................... vii ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................... viii ABSTRAK ........................................................................................................... ix
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION .................................................................... 1
A. Background of the Study ................................................................... 1 B. Problem Formulation ......................................................................... 4 C. Objectives of the Study ...................................................................... 4 D. Definition of Term ............................................................................. 5CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW ................................................... 6
A. Review of Related Studies ................................................................. 6 B. Review of Related Theories ............................................................... 7 1. Theories of Imagery ............................................................... 8 2. Theories of Suicide ................................................................ 11 3. Relationship between Literature and Biography..................... 13 C. Review of Sylvia Plath’s Life ............................................................ 14 D. Theoretical Framework....................................................................... 17CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ................................................................ 19
A Object of the Study ............................................................................ 19 B Approach of the Study ....................................................................... 20 C Method of the Study ........................................................................... 21CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS .............................................................................. 23
A The Explication of “Lady Lazarus” ................................................... 23 B The Analysis on the Imagery of “Lady Lazarus” .............................. 35 C Sylvia Plath’s Suicidal Manner and Suicide Attempts Reflected in the Imagery of “Lady Lazarus” ................................................................ 50CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ........................................................................ 72
BIBLIOGRAPHY .............................................................................................. 76APPENDIX ......................................................................................................... 77
“Lady Lazarus” ........................................................................................ 77
ABSTRACT
Fajar Aditya Yunarto (2006). The Reflection of Sylvia Plath’s Suicidal
Manner and Suicide Attempts in “Lady Lazarus” as Seen through the Imagery,
Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma
University.Author’s personal backgrounds, experiences, historical moment, and the life
of the people around him/her usually influence the literary works he/she writes.
Consciously or unconsciously the author expresses his/her feelings, thoughts, and
memories in the work of art. Sylvia Plath is an author who often writes a literary
work influenced by her personal life. “Lady Lazarus” is one of her works influenced
by her personal life that is related to her suicidal manner and suicidal attempts.The objectives of this study are, first, to find out how the imagery in the
poem is inferred, the second is to reveal how the inference of the imagery reflects
Sylvia Plath’s suicidal manner and suicide attempts.This study applies library research method and uses a biographical approach.
This study also applies three theories related to the topic. They are theories on
imagery, theories on suicide, the relationship between literature and biography.The result of the analysis shows that there are various kinds of images that
are used in the poem. Most of those images are to help to know the speaker’s
opinions about some people, events, and suicide, and to give clues about her
miserable condition and her intention. The imagery of the poem reflects Sylvia
Plath’s first, second and third suicide (suicide attempts). The imagery shows some
similarities between suicides of the speaker in the poem and Plath’s actual suicides.
The people and events in the poem have similarities to the people and events in
Plath’s actual life. The clues about the miserable condition and intention of the
speaker show that she suffers from severe stresses (grief work, self-devaluation,
interpersonal conflict, etc). The biography of Sylvia Plath proves that Sylvia Plath
also suffered from similar severe stresses. Through the imagery the poem reflects
Sylvia Plath’s suicidal manner and suicide attempts.
ABSTRAK
Fajar Aditya Yunarto (2006). The Reflection of Sylvia Plath’s Suicidal
Manner and Suicide Attempts in “Lady Lazarus” as Seen through the Imagery,
Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma.Latar belakang, pengalaman, momen sejarah, dan kehidupan orang-orang di
sekitar sang penulis biasanya mempengaruhi karya-karya sastra yang ia tulis. Secara
sadar atau tidak sadar sang penulis mengekspresikan perasaan-perasaan, pikiran-
pikiran, dan memori-memorinya dalam karya sastra. Sylvia Plath adalah seorang
penulis yang sering menulis karya sastra yang dipengaruhi oleh kehidupan
pribadinya. “Lady Lazarus” adalah salah satu karyanya yang dipengaruhi oleh
kehidupan pribadinya yang berhubungan dengan sikap bunuh diri dan percobaan-
percobaan bunuh dirinya.Tujuan dari studi ini adalah, pertama, menemukan bagaimana pencitraan
dalam puisi ini diuraikan, yang kedua adalah mengungkapkan bagaimana pencitraan
mencerminkan sikap bunuh diri dan percobaan-percobaan bunuh diri Sylvia Plath.Studi ini mengaplikasikan metode penelitian pustaka dan menggunakan
pendekatan biografi. Studi ini juga menerapkan tiga teori yang berhubungan dengan
topik. Teori tersebut adalah, teori imagery, teori bunuh diri, dan hubungan antara
sastra dan biografi.Hasil dari analisis menunjukan bahwa ada berbagai macam jenis citra yang
digunakan dalam puisi ini. Citra-citra tersebut kebanyakan adalah untuk membantu
mengetahui pendapat sang pembicara mengenai beberapa orang, kejadian-kejadian,
dan bunuh diri, dan juga memberikan petunjuk tentang kemalangannya dan niatnya.
Pencitraan dalam puisi mencerminkan bunuh diri pertama, kedua, dan ketiga Sylvia
Plath (percobaan-percobaan bunuh diri). Pencitraan menunjukan kesamaan antara
bunuh diri sang pembicara dalam puisi dan bunuh diri Sylvia Plath yang
sesungguhnya. Orang-orang dan kejadian-kejadian dalam puisi memiliki kesamaan
dengan orang-orang dan kejadian-kejadian dalam kehidupan nyata Sylvia Plath.
Petunjuk-petunjuk mengenai kemalangan dan niatan sang pembicara menunjukan
bahwa ia menderita tekanan batin (duka cita, kegagalan, dan konflik hubungan, dll).
Biografi dari Sylvia Plath bahwa Sylvia Plath juga menderita tekanan batin. Melalui
pencitraan puisi ini mencerminkan sikap bunuh diri dan percobaan-percobaan bunuh
diri Sylvia Plath.CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of Study People who commit suicide are types of people who lack of solution in
dealing with problems in life. The lack of solution might be caused by the lack of faith in religion. Moslems and Christians regard suicide as a sin (Coleman, 1976: 613). People who have a strong faith in religion must have known that there are heaven and hell as the reward for everything they do in this world. People who did something that is forbidden by the religion as suicide would be rewarded the everlasting hell “where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched (Mark 8: 44).”
According to Jim Smith in his book Abnormal Behavior, suicide is “the act of intentionally destroying oneself (Smith, 1984: 129).” According to Supratiknya, a person will not commit suicide if the person does not suffer from an abnormal behavior that is caused by psychosocial factors. People who committed suicide suffer these psychosocial factors: childhood traumatic
experience , parental deprivation, pathogenic relationship between children and
their parents, and heavy stress (Supratiknya, 1995: 27-31).People who committed suicide have their own reasons. Whatever the reasons are, many people still choose suicide as a way to deal with problems in life. Not only ordinary people, but also famous people like artists, politicians, and authors. For examples, Kurt Cobain, a popular musician in the 90s, not only as a vocalist of Nirvana, but also as the leader of the same band who made Nirvana one of the greatest bands in the world. Too bad his career ended with suicide on 7 April 1991, it was also the end of Nirvana. Being a famous artist who had many fans was not his dream, and he could not deal with it. A famous painter, Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890), committed suicide because he thought he could not become a great painter with the epilepsy that he had. In fact, he could only sell one painting for 400 Francs in his life. A famous politician, Adolf Hitler (1889- 1945), committed suicide after he failed winning the Second World War. A Nobel winning author Ernest Hemingway (1898-1961), Virginia Woolf (1882-1941), and Sylvia Plath (1932-1963) were famous authors who committed suicide (Iwantra, January 2005: 76-81). .
Suicide is a unique expression, and that is why suicide can be made into an interesting theme in literature. According to Wellek and Warren, through literary works, authors perpetuate and publish their fantasies (Wellek and Warren, 1956: 81-93). While according to Abrams, literary works have a close relation with their creators, because consciously or unconsciously through the literary works the authors express their feelings, thoughts, and experiences (Abrams, 1981: 20 – 22). Frankly speaking, when an author writes a literary work with suicide theme, he consciously or unconsciously delivers a bit something inside him in terms of psychology.
Those experts’ ideas explain clearly that studying the author’s mind, thoughts, dreams, obsessions, fantasies, and feelings based on his life and experiences is needed to understand his works. Understanding the author’s state of mind in term of psychology in writing his works will put the readers into a better understanding on the content of his works.
There are so many authors who wrote literary works contented with suicide theme. These are some of the list, The Awakening by Kate Chopin, Doctor
Marigold by Charles Dickens, “A Clean, Well Lighted Place” by Ernest
Hemingway, The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, and Hamlet by William ). However, Sylvia Plath, an author who died of suicide, is the most interesting of them all. She even perpetuated her suicidal manner and suicide attempts through the imagery so clearly in one of her poems, “Lady Lazarus.”
Sylvia Plath was born in Massachusetts in 1932, depression had gotten into her since she was 8 years old, that was when her beloved father died of diabetes, and she swore not to talk to God again that day. At the age of 9, Plath started to think about suicide as she wrote in her journal. Every deduction and failure in love had darkened her life (Iwantra, January 2005: 77).
Her marriage to Ted Hughes, who was also a poet in 1956, could not heal her depression. Happiness in life that she expected from the marriage did not show up, moreover, Hughes had an affair with Assia Wevill. One day in one of their quarrels, Hughes told her that he wished she would kill herself, so that he could sell their house (Iwantra, January 2005: 77).
Tragically, London, in the morning of 11 February 1963, Plath after preparing breakfast for her children went straight to the kitchen in the basement and sealed herself there to commit suicide with gas from the oven. Plath died at the age of 30 (Alexander, 1991: 328-330).
The researcher is going analyze “Lady Lazarus.” The poem does not only talk about suicide, but also mention the author’s actual suicides. Through imagery, or images that are taken collectively, the readers can see that the poem reflects the author’s suicidal manner and suicide attempts. The imagery will at least show that the speaker has exactly the same interest in dying like the author, because the author, Sylvia Plath, also died of suicide. The researcher believes that the poem “Lady Lazarus” is the most suitable literary work to study Sylvia Plath’s suicidal manner that led to some suicide attempts.
B. Problem Formulation
Based on the background of the study, the researcher would like to discuss these two questions in the following chapter. The questions are as follows.
1. How is the imagery of “Lady Lazarus” inferred in the poem? 2.
How is Sylvia Plath’s suicidal manner and suicide attempts reflected in the imagery in the poem?
C. Objectives of the Study
The aim of the study is to give reliable answers to the questions that have been formulated in the problem formulation. The aims are, firstly, to find out how the imagery in “Lady Lazarus” is inferred in the poem to answer the first problem. Secondly, to reveal how the imagery reflects Sylvia Plath’s suicidal manner and suicide attempts. For the first problem, the researcher will analyze the images of the poem to reveal the inference. The next step is to find out the similarities between the author’s suicidal manner and suicide attempts and the inference of the imagery. By finding out the similarities between the inference of the imagery and the author’s suicidal manner and suicide attempts, the explanation on how far the imagery reflects Sylvia Plath’s suicidal manner and suicide attempts will be accomplished.
D. Definition of Terms
In this part, the researcher would like to define some terms to help the readers to understand the content of this thesis. The terms are suicide, and suicidal manner.
1. Suicide Suicide according to James C. Coleman is “taking one’s own life.” Suicide can be called as the act to destroy one self (Coleman, 1976: 603).
2. Suicidal Manner Suicidal manner can also be called suicidal behavior. Suicidal manner or suicidal behavior is an individual’s psychological state of intent or motivation in which suicide appears to be one method of obtaining relief from an aversive life situation (Coleman, 1976: 608).
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies Joan Welz of the University of Alberta states that Sylvia Plath was a
bright, intelligent, and determined young woman with a need to succeed and a burning desire to write. Plath’s literary reputation rests mainly on her carefully crafted pieces of poetry, particularly the verse that the author composed in the
Helen Vendler of The New Yorker said that Plath’s poems like “Daddy” and “Lady Lazarus” show that the author is talented and has an amazing skill in writing, it can obviously be seen from the words that are chosen by the author. Especially “lady Lazarus,” that almost every stanza picks up a new possibility of theatrical voice. For example, the words are made like mock movie talk (“So, so, Herr Doktor. / So, Herr Enemy”) to bureaucratic politeness, (“Do not think I underestimate your great concern”) to witch warnings (“I rise with my red hair/
According to McQuade in his book Single Volume American Literature II, Sylvia Plath’s intensity, purity, and spareness last poems have given her short career a weight out of proportion to its brevity. Those poems are of cool mastery, and of talent unafraid of its own extremes although they came from a tragic life and often have a tragic subject, these poems are exhilarated (1999: 2521).
Kathleen Margaret Lant in her thesis “The big striptease: female bodies and male power in the poetry of Sylvia Plath” says that “Lady Lazarus” shows how female subject offers pieces of herself that she displays herself not in assertive way, but in a sexually provocative and seductive way. The speaker of the poem “Lady Lazarus” wants her unveiling will to be noticed as a seductive gesture of submission and invitation ().
The researcher has a different opinion about Plath’s writings. Perhaps those writings are intelligent and skillful writings for some people, but for the researcher, the most obvious in Plath writings are the backgrounds, the psychological moods, and the intentions of the author when writing. Not only are those, Plath’s writings are as the vehicle to shout her deepest fear, her inmost thoughts, and indirectly her suicidal manner that led to some suicide attempts. The researcher does not think of “Lady Lazarus” as a poem that reveals sexual provocation or seduction, but the researcher thinks of it as a reflection of the author’s psyche and life in term of suicide.
B. Review of Related Theories
This part contains theories to help answering the problems that have been formulated in problem formulation. The theories are theories on imagery (allusion, metaphor and simile will be included to support the theory of imagery) as the part of theories of literature, theories on suicide as the part of theories of psychology, and the relation between literature and biography.
In addition, the researcher needs to include the theory on how to discuss a poem. According to Rohrberger and Woods, essentially, what poetry expresses is not different from what either fiction or drama expresses. Plot, characterization, and theme are the absolute essentials of fiction and drama. However, poetry can use all those essentials. In narrative poems, many of the criteria used to judge fiction can be applied, and dramatic poems can be judge as little plays. Most poems are plotless or characterless, but never themeless (Rohrberger and Woods, 1971: 33). “Lady Lazarus” is a narrative poem, which is why the researcher analyses the poem using the technique to analyze a fiction.
1. Theory of Imagery
Imagery is “images” that are taken collectively to make poetry concrete, as opposed to abstract. In modern criticism, imagery is one of the most ambiguous and common term. The applications of imagery range all the way from the “mental pictures” that are experience by the reader of a poem to the totality of elements which make up a poem. In this case, an image can be a picture made out of word, and the poem may itself be an image composed from a multiplicity of images (Abrams, 1981: 78)
There are three different kinds of imagery, they are as follows. Firstly imagery is used to signify all objects and qualities of sense perception in literary works. It can be made out of literal description, allusion, or in the analogues used in its similes and metaphors. The imagery includes the literal objects the poem refers to. Some readers of the passage experience visual images and some do not, among those who do, the explicitness and detail of the mind pictures vary greatly. Imagery also includes auditory (sound), tactile (touch), thermal (heat and cold), olfactory (smell), gustatory (taste), or kinesthetic (sensation of movement), as well as visual qualities. Secondly, imagery can be used more narrowly to signify only descriptions of visual objects and scenes, especially if the description is vivid and particularized. Thirdly, imagery can also be used to signify figurative language, especially the vehicles of metaphors and similes (Abrams, 1981: 78 – 79).
Images, as they function in comparisons of various sorts, are important devices for interpretation. In that case, imagery shall not be idle and meaningless, dead or inert, or distracting or self-serving. Every bit of image ought to “make sense” and to aid the poem in its making sense the reader has to be open-minded, because there are many ways in which imagery may make its sense. The reader can only judge the accuracy of the images by understanding the context of the poem, because in this case, the images and the context become one unity (Brooks, 1960: 269 – 273)
Imagery does not only give setting or stimulates imagination or furnish pictures pleasing in themselves, but, it has everything to do with what the poem says. Imagery is an integral part of the poem that the reader should be on the alert for the implications of the imagery and for the relation of the imagery to the full meaning of the poem. Because, in some poem, the uses of metaphors have been reduced to one term, which is to make implicit rather than explicit. This kind of metaphor gives the effect of powerful description and comparison (Brooks, 1960: 269 – 273).
The researcher will need to include the definition of allusion, metaphor and simile in order to recognize the imagery in the poem.
1. Allusion is a reference, explicit or indirect, to a person, place, or event, or to another literary work or passage. In another word, allusion is a reference that is used by the author based on the author’s private readings and experiences, in order to know the exact meaning, which the allusion signifies, the reader must understand the reference used by the author, the reader must study the background of the author. The uses of allusions are to expand upon or enhance a subject, but some are used in order to undercut it ironically by the discrepancy between the subject and the allusion (Abrams, 1981: 8). There are many kinds of allusion exist today, according to Jon Rosenblatt, there are at least four allusions used in the poem “Lady Lazarus,” biblical, historical, political, and personal allusion. However, the researcher finds that there is another allusion used in the poem, which is mythical allusion ().
2. Metaphor is a literal usage of word to denote one kind of thing, quality, or action, which is applied to another, in the form of identity instead of comparison (Abrams, 1981: 65). For an example, in “O my love is a red, red rose,” the word “is” is the key to denote the identity of the word “my love.” “A red, red rose” is the identity of “my love.” The image “a red, red rose,” signifies the identity of “my love” instead of giving comparison of visual description although a red rose is a visual object.
3. Simile is a comparison between two distinctly different things that is indicated by the word “like” or “as” (Abrams, 1981: 65). For an example, “Heavy as frost, and deep almost as life,” the word “as” is the key to compare “heavy” to “frost” and “deep” to “life.”
2. Theories of Suicide
According to Jim Smith in his book Abnormal Behaviors, suicide is “the act of intentionally destroying oneself,” he also adds that suicide can be called as “a violent self-inflicted destructive action resulting in death.” He explains that the decision to commit suicide is usually a combination of a wish to live and a wish to die, this situation he explains as an ambivalence, which is meant to be a cry for help (1984: 129).
Durkheim grouped suicide into four basic groups. They are, egoistic, altruistic, anomic, and fatalistic. Egoistic is when a person no longer finds a basis for existence in life or unable to find the reason to live. Altruistic is when a person is positioned into a heroic situation, he dedicates his life to a cause. Anomic means “deregulation,” it is when a person suffers from a great change in which he is not ready to deal with. Fatalistic is when a person is in an excessive regulation, this condition usually happens among prisoners, slaves and others suffering the same burdens. Durkheim measures the suicide rate based on the strengths and weaknesses of society. The causes are external or environmentally determined (Smith, 1984: 129-130).
James C. Coleman of University of California at Los Angeles declares that there are four causes of suicide. He calls it as stress factors in suicide. Paykel, Prusoff, and Myers detected these causes in 1975. They are, interpersonal crises, failure and self-devaluation, inner conflict, and loss the meaning and hope (1976: 606-608).
Interpersonal crises are interpersonal conflict and disruptions. These kinds
of conflicts are often found within the marital conflict, separation, divorce, or the loss of loved ones through death may result in severe stress and suicidal behavior.
It is a combination of stressful factors such as frustration and hostility over feeling rejected, a wish for revenge, and a desire to withdraw from the highly conflictful and hurtful relationship but on which the individual feel dependent. In other case it also happens on the death of a loved one on whom the person felt dependent for emotional support and meaning in life (Coleman, 1976: 606-607). Failure and is the feelings of having failed in some enterprises which often
self-devaluation involving occupational aspirations and accomplishments (Coleman, 1976: 607).
Inner conflict is when a person is situated on a debate with his own mind. He may
be anxious and confused, struggle with the meaning of life and death, and decide that he should not continue the struggle any longer (Coleman, 1976: 607). Loss of is when a person has no desire to live (Coleman, 1976: 607).
meaning and hope
According to Sigmund Freud, both life and death forces are in constant conflict in every person, even though they are unconscious. Freud viewed suicidal urges as a problem within the individual. The causes are frustrations that trigger an aggression to be directed inward, ambivalence that is a love-hate situation toward a lost parent or lost object, and grief work that is an abnormal desire to be reunited with a loved one (Smith, 1984: 130).
Sigmund Freud was the first to suggest that the unconscious, not the conscious governs a large part of human’s actions. This irrational part of human psyche, the unconscious, receives and stores hidden desire, ambitions, fears, passion, and irrational thoughts. Freud dramatically redefined the unconscious, believing it to be a dynamic system that not only contains biographical memories but also stores suppressed and unresolved conflicts in human mind. Still according to Freud, the unconscious is the storehouse of disguised truths and desires that want to be revealed in and through the conscious (Bressler, 1999: 149-150).
3. The Relationship between Literature and Biography
According to Rohrberger and Woods, a work of art is a reflection of a personality, that in esthetic experience the reader shares the author’s consciousness, and that at least part of the reader’s response is to the author’s personality. Furthermore, Rohrberger says that they attempt to learn as much as they can about the life and development of the author and to apply this knowledge in their attempt to understand the author’s writing (Rohrberger and Woods, 1971: 8). In another word, a literary work has always been involved with the author.
Wellek and Warren in their book Theory of Literature state that biography in relation to the light it throws on the actual production of poetry as an investigation of the personality and the life of the author, it is a study of the man of genius, of his moral, intellectual, and emotional development, in which it has its own intrinsic interest. Biography can be used as affording materials for a systematic study of the psychology of the poet and of the poetic process (1956: 75). Furthermore, they claim that the most obvious cause of a work of art is its creator (Wellek and Waren, 1956: 75).
As the affording materials for systematic study of the psychology of the poet, the biography of the author is needed to study to reveal the author’s suicidal manner that lead her to some suicide attempts. There must be some explanation in psychology about Silvia Plath’s suicidal manner.
There are three points of view to be understood about biography. First, it explains and illuminates the actual product of poetry. The second advocates the intrinsic interest of biography, shifts the centre of attention to human personality. The third considers biography as material for science or future science, the psychology of artistic of creation (Wellek and Warren, 1956: 75).
D. Review on Sylvia Plath’s Personal Life
Review on the author’s life in this thesis is needed to learn the personal life of the author and to analyze to what extent the life of the author is reflected in her poem. In addition, by learning the personal life of the author, the researcher might find the intention of the author in writing the poem. The review on the author’s life is taken from the book Rough Magic: A Biography of Sylvia Plath by Paul Alexander.
Sylvia Plath, a daughter of German immigrant parents, was born on October 27, 1932. Her father was a professor of biology at Boston University (Alexander, 1999: 12), who died of diabetes on November 5, 1940 when Sylvia Plath was eight years old. Hearing her father died Sylvia Plath swore, “I’ll never speak to God again.” Her mother, Aurelia, then worked at two jobs to support Sylvia and her brother Warren, but in her diary, Plath reveals her hatred for her mother (Alexander, 1999: 34-36).
1941 was the first publication of Sylvia Plath’s work, it was a collection of poems book simply entitled Poem about what she saw and heard on hot summer nights. The collection was printed in children’s section of the Boston Herald, Sylvia Plath accelerated to make more poems and other literary works ever since.
In late summer of 1942 when Sylvia Plath was almost 10, Aurelia started to ask little Sylvia and Warren the idea about moving out of Winthrop. It made Sylvia Plath became frustrated, that later Sylvia Plath when she was twenty years old, explained her friend Eddie that she committed suicide, “she swam out into the ocean alone and tried to drown herself.” However, she was unable to finish her will to commit suicide (Alexander, 1999: 121). There is also evidence that proves Sylvia Plath slit her own throat when she was ten (Alexander, 1999: 135).
On October 1942 the whole family moved to Wellesley where little Sylvia had to deal with new neighborhood; moreover she had to lose her past memories about her beloved father when she was informed that the house had been sold right after her tenth birthday. Her mother, Aurelia, sold the old house and bought the new one which was located on 26 Elmwood Road, fifteen miles west of the city, she felt that she had lost many elements of her old life ever since. Later she had to make new friends, adjust to different school, and learn the way around unfamiliar places. Nevertheless, her most depressive element in life was the pain she still felt over the death of her father (Alexander, 1999: 36-41).
In February 1943, Aurelia had a terrible sickness for which she was hospitalized for three weeks and another week of recovery at home before she could continue her regular routine. Unlike dealing with their father sickness, little Sylvia and Warren were not so depressed about Aurelia’s sickness (Alexander, 1999: 42).
At school, Sylvia Plath appeared to be a model student. She won prizes and scholarship. She studied at Gamaliel Bradford Senior High School (now Wellesley High School) and then took her degree at the Smith College from 1950 to 1955 (Alexander, 1999: 60-174).
In 1952, her first awarded story, “Sunday at the Mintons,” was published in Mademoiselle Magazine while she was at college. In 1953, Sylvia Plath worked on the college editorial board at the same magazine and suffered a mental breakdown, which led to a suicide attempt for the second time. She describe this period of her life in The Bell Jar, her autobiographical novel, which was published under the pseudonym Victoria Lucas in 1963, a month before her death (Alexander, 1999: 124).
Not until April 1954, she wrote poetry again, and changed her appearance to indicate a new beginning. In October 1955, Sylvia Plath attended Newham College at Cambridge University on a Fulbright scholarship, where she met Ted Hughes at a St. Botolph’s party on February 25, 1956, and they were married on June 16 1956, although many of her friends had reminded her that Ted Hughes was the biggest seducer in Cambridge (Alexander, 1999: 176 -189).
Their happy married life only lasted a while. Later on, Sylvia started to accuse Ted on having many affairs with some girls. After six years of marriage and having two children, in July 1962, Sylvia finally discovered Ted’s newest affair with Assia Wefill, a wife of Canadian poet David Weffil, a couple whom they shared the apartment with. Sylvia and Ted separated in September, and in December, Sylvia and the children moved into an apartment at 23 Fitzroy Road (Alexander, 1999: 282 – 313).
On February 11, after preparing breakfast for the children Sylvia went into the kitchen and sealed the door to commit suicide with gas from the oven. The baby sitter who came in the morning found her body (Alexander, 1999: 330).
D. Theoretical Framework
The reviews and theories above are needed to answer the problem formulation. The reviews will be applied as the references towards the analysis, while the theories will be applied as the basic understanding to analyze the problems. Both the reviews and theories support one another, which the combination of both will be able to answer the problems of this study.
To answer the first problem formulation, that is how the imagery in “Lady Lazarus” inferred. The theory of imagery (allusion, metaphor and simile as the parts of theory of imagery are included) will be applied to analyze how the imagery inferred.
The second problem formulation tries to describe how the imagery reflects Sylvia Plath’s suicidal manner and suicide attempts. The second problem will be analyzed by comparing Sylvia Plath’s suicide attempts in her biography and the inference of the imagery. The theories of suicide will be needed to understand the backgrounds of Sylvia Plath’s suicidal manner. Understanding the backgrounds of Sylvia Plath’s suicidal manner will help to know the relation between the inference of the imagery and the author’s suicidal manner. The relationship between literature and biography will be applied to understand the significance and the relation of the author life and his works.
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY A. Object of the Study The object that is analyzed in this study is “Lady Lazarus,” a narrative
poem by Sylvia Plath, an author who was born in Massachusetts on October 27, 1932 and committed suicide on February 11, 1963. “Lady Lazarus” was written within a week from 23 to 28 October, 1962. It is so ironic that “Lady Lazarus” was first published in 1965, two years after Plath’s death of suicide. Although Sylvia Plath’s life was brief in conventional terms, her life was rich in experiences. She received accolades in the form of prizes, awards, and scholarships. She had literary successes, although none as great as those that were endowed on her post-humously. In 1982, she received the Pulitzer Prize for poetry for her collected poems; “Lady Lazarus” is one of many of her great poems in the collection and had most response from the experts. “Lady Lazarus” is included in her Ariel, her famous collected poems.
The poem that is used in this study was taken from Donald McQuade’s
Single Volume American Literature II , the third edition, published by Addison
Wesley Longman, Inc. in 1999. “Lady Lazarus” contains of 28 (twenty-eight) stanzas of 84 (eighty-four) lines.
The speaker in “Lady Lazarus” is about a thirty-year-old woman who confesses to have done another suicide after two failed suicides. She calls herself as a walking miracle, and challenges her enemy, showing the enemy that she has guts because she has nine lives like the cat. Assuming her life is such a trash she annihilate each decade by committing suicide, this time is number three. The speaker blames everybody who makes her life so bitter, and blames everybody who tries to rescue her. Because she would be able to live again without their rescue, there is no need to keep her life when there is nothing in it anymore. Furthermore, she said that she is going to rise again and do revenge.
B. Approach of the Study
For the approach, the researcher uses the biographical approach because it is the most suitable approach to answer the question stated in the problem formulation. Since the researcher tends to analyze the relation between the author’s life (suicidal manner and suicide attempts of the author) and the poem, the biographical approach provides suitable explanation because this approach stresses on the reflection of the author’s life.
The biographical approach is very useful to analyze the background and biography of the author. The biographical approach is to understand the life of Sylvia Plath’s to find out her abnormal behavior (psychology) that led her to some suicide attempts. In A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature, Wilfred Guerin states that “the biographical approach is a reflection of its author’s life and times or the life and times of the characters in the work” (Guerin, 1979: 25).
Biographical material definitely can provide useful facts that help the researcher to understand and appreciate the literary object.
C. Method of the Study The researcher uses the library research to collect the data for this study.
Those data are divided into two categories, they are, primary data and secondary data taken as the sources.
The primary data is the poem by Sylvia Plath “Lady Lazarus” taken from McQuade’s The Harper Single Volume American Literature II, which is the object of the analysis. Besides the poem “Lady Lazarus” the researcher used other sources as the secondary sources. Most were books of psychology to support the theories of psychology, books concerned with literature theories, and Silvia Plath’s life history. The books of psychology are James C. Coleman’s Abnormal
, Jim Smith’s Abnormal Behaviors: Outline
Psychology and Modern Life References . Books of literature theories are Abrams’ A Glossary of Literature Terms , Wellek and Warren’s Theory of Literature, Bressler’s Literary Criticism,
Donald McQuade’s Single Volume American Literature, Wilfred Guerin’s A
Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature, Cleanth Brooks’ Modern Poetry,
and Rohrberger and Woods’ Reading and Writing about Literature. The author’s biography is taken from Rough Magic: A Biography of Sylvia Plath by Paul Alexander. The researcher also takes some data that cannot be found from those books from the internet. They are reviews from Helen Vendler and Kathleen Margaret Lant at <>, and Joan Welz at <http://www.hum.ualberta.ca/eml>.
In researching the work, the researcher used several stages to help to analyze the thesis. The first stage was to read “Lady Lazarus” by Sylvia Plath repeatedly to find the problem in the poem to analyze, and then paraphrased the poem to help to find the intrinsic elements needed to analyze. When the researcher found some interesting problems, the next thing was to find what many experts have said about Sylvia Plath’s “Lady Lazarus,” and to find out what important subject to analyze that had never been discussed before from the internet. This way was taken to avoid plagiarism in order to have a fresh topic for the analysis.
After the second stage was completed, the researcher formulated those problems into problem formulations and figured the most suitable approach for the analysis.
Soon after the approach had been decided, the researcher was to find the theories from the books to support the analysis. After all those stages had been completed, the researcher started to analyze the poem by inferring the imagery in the poem and then related the result of the inference (what the images signify and depict) of the imagery to the biography of the author using all the data and theories. Finally, after finished analyzing the poem, the researcher drew a conclusion from the analysis.
CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS This chapter is divided into three main parts, the first part contains the
explication of the poem, and then the other two parts contain the analysis of the problem formulations stated in Chapter I. The first analysis will discuss how the imagery of the poem “Lady Lazarus” inferred. The second analysis will describe how the inference of the imagery in “Lady Lazarus” reflects Sylvia Plath’s suicidal manner and suicide attempts.