Literary Context: Confessional Poetry

Confessional poetry emerged in America during the late 1950s and early 1960s. This specific type of poetry dealt with subject matter that previously was not openly discussed in American poetry. It talked about private experiences such as death, trauma, depression, and relationships written often in an autobiographical manner. The poetry isn’t completely based on emotions; “The confessional poets were not merely recording their emotions on paper; craft and construction were extremely important to their work” (A Brief Guide to Confessional Poetry).

Some authors that were involved with this movement were Robert Lowell, Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, and W.D. Snodgrass. Not all the authors were fans of the term “confessional poetry”, specifically, W.D. Snodgrass. He felt that as a poet, he wasn’t writing about anything other poets weren’t already writing about. Writing confessional poetry made him feel like he needed to confess something or write about something religious, which he didn’t do on purpose if he did, because of the term.

Two authors who wrote confessional poetry that we read as a class are Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton. Both poets seemed to have tough lives. Both lived with depression but were hard working writers who changed the face of poetry. Plath was born in Massachusetts where she lived with her mother and father. When Plath was only 8, her father died due to health complications. Plath’s father was rather strict and authoritative and his death launched a confusing definition for Plath and her relationships with men and poetry; if you’ve ever read anything by her, you know what I mean.

Plath was always a strong writer and was published fresh out of high school. She attended Smith College where she struggled with depression and even attempted suicide. Despite that, she graduated and went on writing. She married Ted Hughes, moved to England, and worked with Lowell for a while. But then, her husband left her. This inspired Ariel to be written. She wrote several books and poems, such as The Bell Jar, The Colossus, and Letters Home. At the age of 31, she wrote her neighbor telling him to call a doctor. Shortly after she committed suicide by using her gas oven (Academy of American Poets).

Anne Sexton was also born in Massachusetts. She moved and grew up in Weston with her mother and father where she was materially well off. Her relationship with her parents was not the healthiest; it was described as difficult and perhaps even contained abuse. After the birth of her first daughter, she suffered from postpartum depression and was institutionalized several times. Her therapist recommended writing as a type of therapy. When her therapist saw she was talented, he urged her to keep writing. “My analyst told me to write between our sessions about what I was feeling and thinking and dreaming” (The Poetry Foundation). She was influenced specifically by Snodgrass saying that people told her she couldn’t write like him because his writing was to confessional. Anyway, she took his writings as permission to write her own. She committed suicide at age 46 (Poetry Foundation).

Plath wrote dark poetry. She was depressed throughout college and the remainder of her life. The poem “Lady Lazarus” has several dark symbols and imagery throughout. She uses the Nazi’s and the Holocaust several times as references to express how she feels; defeated, like the Jews felt at the time. “Bright as a Nazi lampshade” (5) and “A cake of soap” (76) to me provided the most gruesome imagery by far. During that time, Nazi’s would sometimes use the skin and the ashes of the Jews to create lampshades or soap. There’s also dark words such as grave, annihilate, and the talk of incineration and suicide/death.

Another aspect throughout the poem I found was oppression and overcoming it. The fact that her husband left her for another woman made the connection more clear why she felt under the weight of men. Plath writes: “A paperweight,/My face featureless,” (7-8), “I do it [suicide attempts] so it feels like hell./I do it so it feels real” (46-47), “So, so, Herr Doktor. So, Herr Enemy” 64-65), which are all lines that show the powerlessness Plath feels under men. She talks about suicide and death as a way of taking control of her own life instead of someone else doing so; she also rises from her own “death” on her own when she says, “I rise with my red hair/And I eat men like air” (83-84). Although she felt oppressed, she found ways to take control of her life without men guiding her decisions.

Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath were friends. In Sexton’s “Sylvia’s Death” we get some insight into how Sexton felt about the suicide of her friend. Both of the authors suffered from depression throughout their lives, and suicide was a topic discussed often by the two. One of the memories being “the one we talked of so often each time/ we downed three extra dry martinis in Boston” (21-22). Sexton also refers to Plath as sort of a cheater; “Thief--/how did you crawl into,/crawl down alone/into a death I wanted so badly and for so long,/the death we said we both outgrew,/” (15-19). Sexton and Plath seemed to have discussed their suicidal thoughts together in the past, and swore it off; she seems upset that Plath would go back on their vow. Sexton personifies death, referring to it as “our boy” and “the sleepy drummer” which makes the aspect of Plath’s suicide all the more real.

Learning about the background of the confessional poetry and the specific poets within add information and depth to the poetry. I found it interesting how their lives tied into their works in a significant way. Had I read “Sylvia’s Death” before learning about Plath’s depression and suicide along with Sexton’s own depressive state it would have made the poem’s context of discussing death together confusing--it helped to know they were friends. Also knowing that Plath’s husband left her made the powerless feeling of “Lady Lazarus” more apparent; I probably would have missed the feeling of oppression under men without the author history.

Works Cited

"Anne Sexton." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web.
     16 Apr. 2015.

"A Brief Guide to Confessional Poetry." Poets.org. Academy of                   American Poets, 2014. Web.16 Apr. 2015.

Baym, Nina, ed. The Norton Anthology of American Literature.               Eighth ed. Vol. 2. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2013. Print.

"Sylvia Plath." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web.  16          Apr. 2015.