Sylvia Plath Research Paper

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Despite differences between individuals, it is human nature to seek for methods of expressing genuine sentiments and thoughts. Poetry is a venerable and widely used medium in which writers angle words to convey themselves. Embodying the essence of both poetry and emotion, “Confessional” poetry fixates on the intense feelings that accompany every aspect of life—including heavy and delicate topics. The Confessional Poetry movement of the 1950’s was positively influential to both common readers and literature due to monumental writers Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, and Allen Ginsberg, along with the merit of Confessionalism itself.
Confessional Poetry originated during the 1950’s and continued into the 1960’s. This movement has impacted poetry ever since. Based upon the use of personal …show more content…
It is described as going “beyond customary bounds of reticence or personal embarrassment” (Hamilton).
Sylvia Plath was a Massachusetts-born poet, short story novelist, and founder of the Confessional poetry movement. At the mere age of eight, she published her first poem. Adversely, in the same year, her doting father died due to untreated diabetes. This tragic event influenced much of her later writings. Plath was known for her intense drive and perfectionistic personality, which contributed to her struggles with depression. Sylvia Plath attempted suicide twice before she ended her life by carbon monoxide poisoning at age 30 (“Sylvia Plath”). Although tragic, Plath used intense emotions of agony and confusion in her writings, embodying what Confessional poetry truly is. She wrote without fear, using taboo symbols such as blood, fetuses, and hospitals. In the poem “Pursuit,” she wrote “Crying: blood, let blood be spilt;” and “To quench his thirst I squander blood;” Her use of anathema symbols began to normalize what society would not, opening subject matter for authors to write and readers to understand. She stretched the boundaries of what was considered normal. Plath also
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