Sylvia Plath's Daddy

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Sylvia Plath’s Daddy

        Daddy, is a very interesting poem written by Sylvia Plath. It displays many examples of imagery through similes, metaphors and other poetic techniques. Sylvia Plath’s use of language, structure and poetic techniques contribute to the tone and mood of her poem, Daddy. The overall tone of the poem show her feelings of anger and confusion towards the 2 dominant males in her life, her father and her husband who shows a resemblance to the father through his betrayal.

The mood of the poem can be described as sympathetic and sad and is established by the way Sylvia Plath appeals to the responder’s emotions.

Gender and Power play an important role in the poem and also contribute towards the tone and mood of the poem.

Sylvia Plath’s use of harsh language to describe her father makes it obvious to the responder that she is angry at her father’s death. At the start of the poem however, Sylvia Plath does not use a very aggressive tone. The tone slightly changes throughout the poem as Sylvia Plath creates a build up of strong emotions of anger and hatred towards her father. This can be clearly shown by comparing stanzas one and ten. In stanza one she writes:” …you do not do anymore black shoe in which I have lived like a foot. For thirty years, poor and white barely daring to breathe or achoo.” It seems as if Sylvia Plath expresses more feelings of grief rather than anger at her fathers death. She also makes herself appear vulnerable and scared because she no longer has her father’s protection.

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In contrast to stanza one, the tone of stanza ten expresses much more feelings of anger and hatred and none of grief: Not God, but a swastika so black no sky could squeak through…brute heart of a brute like you.

Sylvia Plath introduces her husband further into the poem and describes him as a copy of the father through his betrayal.

In the second last stanza she writes: “If I’ve killed one man, I’ve killed two…” This shows that she has the same angry feelings for the both the husband and the dad as they are alike. ...

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