Sylvia Plath's "Blackberrying". The poem is significant as it underlines the struggle of women in a male dominated world

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BlackBerrying

Ted Hughes Plath’s husband quotes that their daughter had been born and that they were returning to England when she wrote the poem in the 1960’s. The motif of role of women is exclaimed in the poem and the struggle for women to balance family and a job during the time. Plath’s style involves the use of extended metaphors as titles in her poems. The title BlackBerrying is an extended metaphor for traditional berry picking, traditionally done by women. (i)The persona uses obstacles as metaphors to show the block in the path of the artist which created inner conflict as she has mixed emotions between taking care of her family and children and maintaining a career dominated by men. (ii) The persona uses imagery of a journey to the climax of the poem to show the processing of thought, which shows inner conflict as the persona is forced to choose between family and passion. (iii) In the anticlimax of the poem the author uses imagery of hope to build to a climax however the persona in the end does not reach the goal she set out for due to obstacles challenging her creativity and ability to compete with men in the same profession, as a women.

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(i) obstacles as metaphors.

- - blackberrying – “black” lack of hope “ebon” - black

- “blackberrying alley” – negative imagery  - foreboding dangerous “hooks” which is sharp image which also shows negative imagery alluding to peter pan and Captain hook who is the antagonist pirate further illuminated by “a sea” – which can also be translated as joining the ranks of artists, water symbol of rebirth as artist, immersed to compete with men.

- “choughs in black” – big ravens adjoined by the ‘c’ , cacophonous flocks.-“ – noisy birds followed by a dash ‘-‘ refers to literary ...

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