Warning: Talk of suicide (suicide prevention hotline: 1-800-273-8255) Talking about people being envious of someone who is dead or wanting to die is not a topic that can be brought up in an everyday conversation, especially in the 1960s. That is why I was truly surprised to read Anne Sexton’s poem “Sylvia's Death” where we see many occasions where Sexton can be seen as being envious towards her friend Sylvia Path who committed suicide in 1963. The first example I will use is Sexton writing, “Thief -- /how did you crawl into, /crawl down alone /into the death I wanted so badly and for so long” In these two stanzas, Sexton kind of insults Sylvia and then tries to calm death for herself. Sexton calls Sylvia a “thief” for committing suicide before Sexton can. The way she says this makes me think she is thinking that Sylvia stole that idea from Sexton, like Sexton was the only one how was allowed to do it. We can understand Sexton as taking death for herself when she says, “into the death I wanted so badly and for so long” I get the feeling again that Sexton is saying that death is something that was hers and that she was the one that was going to accomplish it first and that she is getting jealous that Sylvia died first. Another example of Sexton being jealous is when she writes, “And now, Sylvia, /you again /with death again, /that ride home /with our boy” In these lines, Sexton calls death “our boy” referencing her and Sylvia. When I read this, I put emphasis on the “our” like Sexton is in disbelief that Sylvia would “go” with death without her or that she would go at all. It feels like Sylvia took their “boy” for herself. The next and last example is the lines “what is your death /but an old belonging, /a mole that fell out /of one of your poems” This definitely felt like a final jab towards Sylvia, since Sylvia had written many poems on death and suicide. Sexton seems to be calling Sylvia’s death something imagined up in one of her poems. To me, it seems like Sexton is saying Sylvia could not have done this and I do not know if that is because she is in disbelief or if Sexton is envious of her. Disclaimer: This poem for me was very are to understand, so in no way am I saying that this is a completely right analysis of the poem. This is just what I got from reading it.
2 Comments
10/4/2019 11:31:44 am
I think you did a really good job analyzing the poem! It can be very hard to interpret exactly what a poet is trying to express, especially when it comes to topics as complex as this one. I think the points you made about Sexton either being jealous of Plath or in disbelief are valid. It opens a door for us to analyze the language Sexton uses, and whether or not she is honoring Plath's own writer's voice or genuinely wishes she would have died instead of Plath, or even died with her.
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Jeremy C
10/6/2019 08:07:24 pm
We essentially had the same view of this poem, I felt like there were strong lines that represented envy/jealousy also. I really like how you analyzed the poem not just because we agreed but you really showed that you had a solid idea about the poem. The way you used multiple stanzas to explain made it easy to understand your view of the poem. Overall I really liked reading your blog really good insight of Sexton's poem.
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