A sense of loss and mourning pervades the stanzas dealing with her father. It is important to note that while the overall tone of the poem is angry, nothing overtly hostile is expressed in the first half of the poem. Though the second stanza begins with "Daddy, I have had to kill you" (line 6), its inclusion in a stanza still heavily shaded with tones of sadness and regret leads the reader to believe that the statement is not made in rage, but in remorse. Yes, she has to kill him -- but only because her situation has forced this option upon her. The emotions conveyed still resound with a sense of what her father must have meant to her, as when she refers to his dead body being carried away in a body-bag as a "bag full of God" (line 8) and when she laments, "I used to pray to recover you." Her father died at a time when she was so attached to him, and yet hadn't had enough time to get to know him. As remarked by Judith Kroll, "The need for exorcising her father's ghost lies in the extremity of her attachment to him" (472). He was ripped from her grasp before she had time to break away on her own; the harsh resentment felt by the speaker is not directed at her father, but rather at the failed replacement that was her husband. This contrasts sharply with the mood set in the first half of the poem. The speaker briefly describes her suicide attempt at the age of 20, confessing the reasoning behind such a course of action: "At twenty I tried to die/ And get back, back, back to you" (lines 58-59). This does not strike me as something someone would do for someone she hated; as far as we can tell, the speaker's father himself has committed no crimes against the speaker other than the fact that he died so early in her development.
The childlike nature of the speaker underscores the authenticity of said remorse. The childlike nature itself is emphasized in several ways, not the least of which is the very scheme that got her into trouble in the first place: Trying to replace her father and marry him rather than actually dealing with and getting over his death.
Daddy Sylvia Plath 1932-1963 Sylvia Plath wrote "Daddy" just four months before her death by suicide in February 1963. ... "Daddy, daddy, you bastard, I"m through." ... In February 1963, Sylvia Plath chose death over life. ... Works Cited Howe, Irving: The Plath Celebration: A Partial Dissent. ... Revising Life: Sylvia Plath's Ariel Poems. ...
The livid, frustrated poem, "Daddy" by Sylvia Plath, is about a young woman who is forced to remember the death of her father. ... Like much of Plath's poems, "Daddy" is encased in metaphors and hyperboles. ... Sylvia Plath is a writer who conveys meaning through vivid poems, and "Daddy" is no exception. "Daddy" is a poem that contains the ability to empower Plath's readers and allow them to gain an understanding of her speaker's thoughts and emotions. Due to Plath's melancholic past, it is believed that Plath could actually be the sp...
It is through such poems as "Daddy" that Plath expresses her feelings of malice toward her father and husband for the way that they treated her. ... "Daddy" describes these feelings of oppression and her battle to overcome the power imbalance. ... This is evident in Plath's continued use of the word daddy and her childlike repetition of words: "You do not do, you do not do" and "Daddy, daddy, you bastard." ... In the poem "Daddy," Plath announces her rebellion from the oppressive forces and ties that have held her back throughout her life. ... Daddy, daddy, you bastard, I"m through. ...
In the poem "Daddy" by Sylvia Plath, we encounter a woman of mixed feelings because she didn't feel loved or affectionate by her father. ... Plath concludes with the symbolic scene of the speaker killing her vampire father. ... "Daddy I have had to kill you" the sadness that she felt after her father's death was overbearing, and that line is to show her father that she no longer needs him as she did when she was younger. ... Plath definitely wrote this poem to free herself from the memories of her father and her husband. ... Plath is still pained by these men, an...
The poem "Daddy" was written by Sylvia Plath in October 12th, 1962. ... "Daddy" is related to psychoanalysis in literature in so many ways. ... The traits that Plath's husband has, as being described in the poem, are very similar to the father figure that Plath makes up. ... Daddy, you can lie back now." (Plath). ...
Analysis of "Daddy" written by Sylvia Plath Sylvia, born of Otto and Aurelia Plath on October 1932 in Boston, Massachusetts. ... Otto Plath's death had a major influence on Sylvia's life and the way she lived it, as shown in the poem "Daddy". ... The portrayal of Otto Plath by family and friends may have influenced Sylvia to believe that "Daddy" is the perfect man and husband. ... Judith Kroll, writer of "Ritual of Exorcism: "Daddy"" puts forward the idea Sylvia Plath demoting her father from God all the way to the Devil, in order to force her father from her thoughts, by relati...
Sylvia Plath parallels her own life in the poem, "Daddy"". ... At the end of the poem she seems to give up totally on trying to get over him, "Daddy, daddy, you bastard, I'm through."" ... Since Plath viewed her father as the perfect male being, she chose a husband exactly like him states Bundtzen, "she marries a man in his [daddy's] image."" (357). ... Perhaps the most obvious selection in the whole poem that shows how she never grows away from her father at all through her life is the word, "Daddy"" (Plath l. 5, 351). ... No matter how hard she tries she will never be able to gi...
'You do not do, you do not do/ Any more, black shoe/ In which I have lived like a foot/ For thirty years, poor and white, Barely daring to breath or Achoo', is the opening description provided by Plath of her circumstances in 'Daddy'. ... In 'The Shot', Hughes uses the 'Daddy' image provided in Plath's work to suggest a tendency in his deceased wife to create a masculine archetype and seek out patriarchal figures that her poetry seemed to rally against. ... The venomous attacks that Plath, in this case 'the bullet' directed at Ted Hug...
Sylvia Plath, a complex poet, a complex mind. ... In the poem "Daddy", the conflict of love and hate as well as revenge and regret are true feelings that Plath struggled with over the death of her father. ... Plath states. ... Some of the most cherished poetry in Plath's collection came from tragic experiences in Plath's own life. ... One of Plath's most famous works, "Daddy", is about a young girl's thoughts and emotions about her father's death and a feeling of betrayal because he died so soon. ...