Tiangco 1

TIANGCO, Andrea A.

Dr. Rhodora Ancheta

Eng 144

November 25, 2020

Woman Reborn: An Analysis of Sylvia Plath’s Lady Lazarus

Lady Lazarus was published in 1965, two years after Sylvia Plath’s death at the age of

30. Considered one of Plath's best poems, it has been subject to a plethora of literary criticism

since its publication. It is commonly interpreted as an expression of Plath's suicidal attempts and

thoughts. Like its title suggests, Lady Lazarus is about resurrection, referencing Lazarus from the

Bible, who lived again after four days of being dead. In her work, Plath reimagines Lazarus as a

female figure.

Having written more than 400 poems in her lifetime, Sylvia Plath is considered to be one

of the most celebrated and controversial poets of the 20th century (Poetry Foundation). While

there are those that dispute the power or the substance in her poetry, some have come to feel that

its legacy is one of cynicism, ego-absorption, and a prurient fascination with suicide (Daiya). Her

works are intensely autobiographical, showing her very personal as well as intellectualized

understanding of the universe and human relationships. Reading her works are like viewing

windows of her life.

Born October 27, 1932 in Boston to parents Otto and Aurelia Plath, Sylvia had shown

signs of creativity at a young age, having written and published her first poem at age eight. She is

credited with advancing confessional poetry, a genre of poetry that’s focused on the personal

experience, often revolving around taboo subjects such as mental illness and sexuality. Lady
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Lazarus centers on the state of women in a patriarchal society and the Holocaust. It is a poem

that depicts the journey of a woman striving to break herself free from the shackles that bind her

with norms prescribed by a male chauvinistic society (Daiya).

The poem begins by saying that the speaker has done “it” again, after trying once every

ten years. The speaker’s tone sounds proud and casual, hinting that “it” is something that she was

good at and familiar with. “It” would later be revealed to be dying and can be interpreted as Plath

referencing her former attempts of suicide. From stanzas two to three, we witness the speaker’s

multiple transformations, with Plath using metaphors and personifications. First, she was bright

as a Nazi lampshade, Plath’s first among the many allusions to the recent atrocities of the

Holocaust found in this poem. The skin of concentration camp victims was used to create

lampshades (Garner). Next the speaker is a paperweight foot signifying stagnation. She then

becomes a fine Jew linen, a featureless face. This might be a reference to Jews’ melding identity

as victims of the Holocaust, or the speaker letting go of an identity to partake another.

The fourth stanza features the first reference to the enemy, asking him to peel off the

napkin to see the speaker’s eyes, nose, and teeth. This is Plath’s imagery of death, like a white

linen blanket is used to cover dead bodies. It may also be the unveiling of the speaker’s new

persona.

The sixth stanza features a change of tone, almost hopeful and optimistic. By using the

word soon, the speaker seems to be looking forward for the grave cave to eat her flesh. This

excitement is a reference to her ability to be resurrected, as she has mentioned in the first stanza,

dying is something she has tried multiple times to do. In the seventh stanza, there becomes a

clear picture that the speaker is Plath, as she mentions that now she is thirty and that she has
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attempted to kill herself thrice already and like a cat, she has nine lives. There’s also some self-

awareness on the speaker’s side, recognizing that by trying to die, she was wasting her life.

The tenth and eleventh stanza point out how dying seems to be sensationalized. Like

some sort of show, the speaker’s body is presented for the crowd to look at. The speaker then

recounts all the times she had tried to kill herself. Dying is mentioned to be an art and the

boastful tone of the speaker resurfaces when she mentions that she does it exceptionally well,

like everything else. Dying is reinforced again as something familiar to the speaker, so familiar

that she can do it in any way at any time. She does it so well that it becomes too easy. But the

theatrics of her death are not yet over. The speaker is preparing the audience for a miracle, for a

comeback, like she is teasing the crowd that something unexpected will happen. Watching has a

price, and in this part her body almost becomes a commodity, a souvenir for the audience.

The speaker continues by addressing Herr Doctor and Herr Enemy, that she is their opus,

valuable. Herr is the German term for Mister, and in this part may be Plath referencing her

father, Otto Plath who was an entomologist, and her husband, Ted Hughes, who was abusive and

had an affair with another woman leading to their separation (Kean). It may also be interpreted

as the speaker directly confronting the male ego. As the speaker continues, she likens herself to a

gold, but she is melting and shrieking and addressing the male ego again as the one stoking the

fire and poking on the ashes. All that is left of her was a soap, another reference to the Holocaust,

a wedding ring, referencing her marriage, and a tooth filling.

The last two stanzas are the great reveal, it is the finale of the show. The speaker warns

Herr God and Herr Lucifer, emphasizing the power possessed by men, that they are supreme.

Out of the ashes she rises, like a Phoenix, like Lazarus, but she is stronger, with red hair and she

can devour men like air.

Sylvia Plath has related her personal experience with death with the sentiments of female

oppression at a time when forwarding women’s rights was not mainstream. Plath’s use of suicide

is viewed as a rejection of the expectations placed upon women by a patriarchal society. The

allusions to the Holocaust provide parallels of oppression. Providing her own explanation to the

poem, Plath mentions that the speaker is a woman who has the great and terrible gift of being

reborn. The only trouble is, she has to die first. But dying in this sense does not always mean

death in the literal sense. It may be killing the version of a woman defined out of a male’s

perspective, and in the end the woman, finally breaking free, is stronger in her true form and

identity.

Works Cited:
Daiya, Krishna. "Lady Lazarus: The Odyssey of a Woman from Existential Angst to Unrivalled
Triumph." International Journal of Advancements in Research & Technology 2.12
(2013): 164-170.
Garner, Dwight. A Grotesque Artifact Starts a Journey From Garage Sale to Buchenwald. 30
September 2010. Website. 24 November 2020.
<[Link]
Kean, Danuta. Unseen Sylvia Plath letters claim domestic abuse by Ted Hughes. 11 April 2017.
Website. 20 November 2020. <[Link]
sylvia-plath-letters-claim-domestic-abuse-by-ted-hughes>.
Kirk, Connie Ann. Slyvia Plath: A Biography. Westport: ABC-CLIO, 2004. Book.
Poetry Foundation. Sylvia Plath. n.d. Website. 16 November 2020.
<[Link]