Lady Lazarus - Analysis

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Reality and Allusion in Sylvia Plath's "LadyLazarus"

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Reality and Allusion in Sylvia Plath's"Lady Lazarus" Essay

Reality and Allusion in Sylvia Plath's Lady Lazarus

Sylvia Plath completed her masterpiece, Lady Lazarus, in the days prior to her suicidein 1963, while in a state of disturbance, distress, and obsession. To Plath, this was notjust a poem; rather a message to others about her life, her enemies, and her struggleswith everything from her family to mental stability. Lady Lazarus conveys Plath's reallife suicide attempts, parallels to her classic novel, The Bell Jar, as well as a biblicalallusion in its title, resulting in a horrific, yet detailed annotation of her psychologicaltroubles.

Within the first three lines of her autobiographical poem, Plath endows the reader witha strong image and message, by simply stating she has attempted suicide three times.Plath proclaims, "I have done it again. / One year in every ten / I manage it ----." Sheis ultimately implying suicide attempts have plagued her at age ten, twenty, and thirty.However, in real life, Sylvia Plath did not attempt suicide at age ten, but we are able todeduce the fact that her father died when Sylvia was eight or nine years old. Thiscould possibly relate to suicide, because her soul died, and her father's death hauntedand upset her throughout her life. Plath also fails to further mention her first suicideattempt at age 20, while she was a student at Smith College. As blatantly stated, SylviaPlath's mastery with these powerful tercets, creates vivid images, and entices thereader from the first line.

The sixth stanza of Lady Lazarus speaks of Plath's second suicide attempt, which leftPlath almost paralyzed - mentally, emotionally, and physically. Stanza six of LadyLazarus reads:

Soon, soon the flesh

Reality and Allusion in Sylvia Plath's "Lady Lazarus" Essay 2

The grave cave ate will be

At home on me.

Plath creates a metaphorical image of being `swallowed up' by the "grave cave" aswell as portraying the concept of claustrophobia and being ensnared in a deep abyss.Not only was this a horror and fear of Plath; it actually happened to her and EstherGreenwood, the antagonist in her autobiographical fiction, The Bell Jar. In 1953, afterreturning from McLean psychiatric hospital in Boston, Plath attempted suicide for thesecond time in her life, by overdosing on a mélange of antidepressants and then hidingin the crawl space, otherwise known as "the cave." Plath also ties in the line "The sourbreath will vanish by day" to this incident, because of body decomposition, her bodywill no longer be around and her scents will vanish and be overcome by smells that aremore horrific.

Lines 25 through 27 are also in relation to Plath's 1953 suicide attempt because of thenews headlines Plath made when her mother found her unconscious and vomiting inthe basement crawl space, as well as the lengths that friends and family went to, inorder to find her. This is not the sole deduction that can be formed about line 25; italso holds meaning to Plath's use of biblical allusion in the title. Plath predominantlyspeaks of "a million filaments" and "the peanut crunching crowd." The "peanutcrunching crowd" is analogous to Plath's family members who were eager to aid insearching for her upon her disappearance, as well as strangers who watched as theevent unfolded via the press and media, considering Plath's disappearance receivednational attention. In the same respect the use of "a million filaments" can be related tothe flashbulbs of the reporters when the press flocked to Plath upon her discovery inthe crawl space and revival at McLean.

Plath speaks of her persona like that of a cat; she has nine times to die. In total, Plath'ssuicide attempts numbered at three, and she was successful on the fourth, in which shetook her life by creating a gas chamber of sorts in the kitchen of her London flat. Plathcreatively uses the line, " What a trash / To annihilate each decade", to imply that she



has attempted suicide three times, once in each decade, first when she was 19, andagain at age 20 and 30. Thus, suicide and, moreover, the death of loved ones (hermother and father), plagued each decade of her rather short life.

Plath's final unveiling of her own life's events and her chronicle of suicide can be seenin stanza 14 when she utters the words:

As a sea shell.

They had to call and call

And pick the worms off me like sticky pearls.

This tercet portrays the grim experience that Plath describes in The Bell Jar, in whichEsther Greenwood (Plath) wades into the water of the Atlantic Ocean in an attempt togo underwater, never to return, thus drowning. The vivid imagery of "picking wormsoff" like "sticky pearls", illustrates the end result that she was rescued andresuscitated, but, yet again, failed at suicide. Plath wanted death so badly; shecommitted these chilling acts more than once. Though she was unsuccessful, Plathwould slowly propel herself to the ecstasy she yearned for and obsessed over - death.

The title "Lady Lazarus" has a great deal of significance to the poem itself and hasvast hidden meaning. Plath uses a biblical allusion by connecting her feminist creationof "Lady Lazarus" with Lazarus of Bethany, who was featured in the book of John.Plath modified Lazarus's incident with death to correlate with her life struggles. InJohn 11:4, the Bible reads, "The sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God,that son of God, might be glorified thereby." Though Lazarus died, Jesus was able tobring him back from the dead, however out of Jesus's desire to advertise his ownpower, rather than the kindness of his heart . Thus, Plath relates this to her own life, inwhich "Herr Doktor" has the talent to bring back from death and states of mental andphysical instability. Plath tries to tell the reader that "Herr Doktor" interfered with herart of poetry, thus, causing her to suffer.



In essence, the entire poem can be seen as an allegorical account of Plath's battle with"Herr Doktor" and rising from the dead, just like Lazarus. Many of Plath's tercets andlines have dual meaning, that relate not only to real life and The Bell Jar, but thiscontinual allegory and struggle between "Herr Doktor" and herself. In line 25, Plathspeaks of "a million filaments." She is not speaking simply about flashbulbs, she isalso speaking of the electricity passing through her body from EST (Electric ShockTherapy), which she endured because of "Herr Doktor" at McLean. Through EST, thepsychiatrist/doctor can be equated to Jesus in the story of Lazarus; he brings SylviaPlath from psychiatric pain or a low point in her life to better health, parallel toLazarus.

The title "Lady Lazarus" also contains yet another intriguing element that Plath usedto reveal her feelings. In his essay, "Lady Lazarus - An Essay Review ", David M.Heaton states, "The title ironically identifies a sort of human oxymoron, a femaleLazarus--not the biblical male." Plath does not conform to the standards of society ofbeing ladylike, instead Plath wants to break free and be separate - a free and untaintedwoman. As previously stated, "Herr Doktor" like Jesus, resurrects Lazarus for his ownacknowledgement, thus Plath tries to equate that difference with the title. In her stateof anger and revenge in this allegorical annotation, she uses "I" twenty two times and"my" nine times. Thus, she reveals to the reader that "Herr Doktor" may be helpingher for his own recognition, but she will not let that stop her from avenging herself.

Considering Sylvia Plath's suicide attempts, one may equate this Lazarus with Plath.Self-destruction is inevitable in the poem, just as it was in Plath's real life. Lazarus isresurrected from death; if we equate Lazarus with the mythical feminist version ofPlath, we can see the parallel. Plath is `Lady Lazarus' and is reincarnated after eachsuicide attempt, thus, she is like a cat, and has nine times to die, furthermore leading toPlath's infamous thought, "Dying / is an art, like everything else. / I do it exceptionallywell."

Sylvia Plath has created more than a poem in "Lady Lazarus", she has fashioned adetailed work of art that chronicles not only her suicide attempts, but the events of her



later life. Plath's creative use of biblical allusion changes the poem from a portrayal ofsuicide to an allegory that conveys her obsessions, weakness, and feelings, whileretaining a morbid sensation. "Lady Lazarus" is a psychological journey and creationin which Plath must rise above "Herr Enemies", "Herr Doktor" and her inner mentalstruggles.



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Lady Lazarus - Analysis