On February 11, 1963 Sylvia Plath laid her children down to rest, walked downstairs to the kitchen, turned the oven on and then stuck her head in it. She had, after several attempts, successfully committed suicide. Depression had smothered Plath's mind her entire life. This shows in her poetry. Almost all of Plath's poem's have the same theme: death. "Lady Lazarus" is just one of them. She wrote this poem shortly after her third attempt of suicide. In "Lady Lazarus" Plath displays a certain tone, ambiguity, and allusions. .
The tone used in "Lady Lazarus" is gloomy and depressing. Nothing in this poem is positive or upbeat. Plath is obviously miserable, as one can see when reading this poem. She asks the question "Do I terrify?" By this she means, does her looks terrify? Her lifeless body is found days after she had just been laying there waiting to die. One could only imagine how horrible she may have looked and smelled. Of course she would terrify. One might believe that she wanted to terrify whoever found her. Throughout the poem she discusses other suicide attempts. Plath tells us how at the age of ten she almost died, she says it was an "accident" but the second time she meant it. She goes on to say how easy it is to commit suicide anywhere, "It's easy enough to do it in a cell. It's easy enough to do it and stay put." The reader might believe that she has actually tried to commit suicide in a cell or possibly just in a room in her own home. It's hard to find anything delightful in this poem when she uses such a morbid and grim tone throughout the whole thing.
"Lady Lazarus" is filled with allusions. The title, in itself, is one. Lazarus is from the New Testament. Lazarus was raised from the dead by Jesus. The poem too is about a woman who can die and rise again. She refers to this at the end of them poem when she says "Herr God, Herr Lucifer Beware Beware. Out of the ash I rise with my red hair And I eat men like air.