Lady Lazarus

"Lady Lazarus" is a poem written by Sylvia Plath, originally included in Ariel which was published in 1965, two years after her death by suicide. This poem is commonly used as an example of her writing style. It is considered one of Plath's best poems and 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.

This article is about the Plath poem. For the 2008 novel, see Lady Lazarus (novel). For the Mad Men episode, see Lady Lazarus (Mad Men).

Illustrations of Plath's depression during WW2

Plath describes the speaker's oppression with the use of World War II Nazi Germany allusions and images.[1] It is known as one of her "Holocaust poems", along with "Daddy" and "Mary's Song".[1] She develops a German image to denote Nazism and in turn, oppression. She accounts this connotation to the doctors in the poem, such as calling the doctor Herr Doktor, because they continue to bring her back to life when all she wants is to finally die. This is the speaker's third time facing death. She faces once every decade; the first was an accident and the second a failed attempt at reaching death. At the end of the poem, when the speaker experiences the unwanted rebirth, she is represented by the image of a phoenix (a mythical bird that is burned alive and then reborn in the ashes). This next decade will be different for the speaker because she plans to 'eat' the men, in this case doctors, so they cannot revive her next time she faces death. Death to her, was the best possible event during the time of her husband's bad treatment.

Omissions

When compared to early manuscripts and the audio recording, the published version omits several lines of verse. When Plath recorded this poem for the BBC in London in October 1962, her version included a line after line 12 of the published version, "Do I terrify?" The recorded version goes on, "Yes, yes, Herr Professor, it is I. Can you deny?" Another line of "I may be Japanese" follows line 33 of the published poem, "I may be skin and bone." [2]

References to the phoenix

The poem alludes to the mythological bird called the phoenix.[3] The speaker describes her unsuccessful attempts at committing suicide not as failures, but as successful resurrections, like those described in the tales of the biblical character Lazarus and the myth of the phoenix. By the end of the poem, the speaker has transformed into a firebird, effectively marking her rebirth, which some critics liken to a demonic transformation.[4]

See also
  • Melissa Ann Sweat (stage name "Lady Lazarus")

References
Footnotes
  1. Fermaglich (2007), p. 14
  2. https://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/poetry/outloud/plath.shtml
  3. Suiter Gentry (2006), p. 78
  4. Britzolakis (1999), p. 155
Sources
  • Britzolakis, Christina (1999). Sylvia Plath and the Theatre of Mourning. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-818373-9.
  • Fermaglich, Kirsten (2007). American Dreams and Nazi Nightmares: Early Holocaust Consciousness and Liberal America, 1957–1965. University Press of New England. ISBN 1-58465-549-6.
  • Gill, Jo (2006). The Cambridge Companion to Sylvia Plath. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-84496-7.
  • Runkel, Anne (2009). Sylvia Plath's "Lady Lazarus" – Cultural and Social Context. GRIN Verlag. ISBN 3-640-32902-3.
  • Suiter Gentry, Deborah (2006). The Art of Dying: Suicide in the Works of Kate Chopin and Sylvia Plath. Peter Lang. ISBN 0-8204-2496-X.
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