HOME: Daddy Lady Lazarus OBJECTIVES: To learn the atrocities of Hitler, To learn the poets wish to kill Hitler,

Hitler, To know the significance of the title Lady Lazarus, To know the suicidal attempts of the poet, To learn how Plath is resurrected in the poem. Sylvia Plath

MODULES: Sylvia Plath is a famous poet of modern America. She was born in 1932 at Boston. At Cambridge, she met Ted Hughes and married him later. Her Collected Poems was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1981. She also wrote a novel, The Bell Jar, which was published shortly before her death in 1963. She committed suicide in 1963 in London. DADDY: THE NARRATORS HATRED OF HITLER: The poem Daddy is about the racial animosity between the Jews and the Germans. The I in the poem is the poet who lived thirty years in Germany, enduring the atrocities and vendetta unleashed not only during Hitlers regime, but long after his death. The suffocation and regimented life that the poet lived was what a foot would have felt, when thrust inside a tight black shoe. The Jews in Germany were compelled to adore Hitler but this feeling of adoration was never genuinely felt by the sufferers. The poet harboured animosity against Hitler to the

extent of wishing to kill him. But Hitler died long before the poet grew up and could get an opportunity to slay the daddy. What the poet sees now is not the real Hitler but life-size marble

statue of Hitler. The state faithfully reflects Hitlers grimness, ghastliness and coldness. The poet mentions in particular the toe big as a Frisco seal of the statue. The special mention of the toe draws attention to Hitlers Draconian rule, forcing all people to toe the line drawn by him. The head of Hitlers statue overlooks that part of the Atlantic where bean green water mixes with the blue water of the ocean. Probably the sea is used here as a symbol of an ideal state where Jews and Germans could mix together, as green water and blue water mix off beautiful Nauset. But the poets hatred is unabated. She wishes the dead Hitler to come back alive so that she can fulfill her ambition to kill him. HITLERS REGIME: Hitler wrecked and ruined many Polish towns that he occupied. The wars which he waged were like a huge road-roller. A roller levels down elevations and makes a flat surface. Hitler also sought to remove the distinctions among men and create an undifferentiated mass of yes-men. The engine image is used again to bring out the ruthlessness of Hitlers government which tried to expel (chuff out) all Jews from Germany. The poet who though not a Jew began to feel like a Jew. The ill-treatment to which Jews were subjected made the poet sympathize with them. I began to talk like a Jew I think I may well be a Jew. Thus Hitlers regimentation was counter-productive, turning friends into enemies, nonJews into Jews. The iron rule which Hitlers swastika symbolized was so black that even God could not squeak through it. Women extended their unstinted support to Fascism. The poet thinks that womens adoration of Hitler was pretence to escape punishment. For, nobody can sincerely admire .a brute like you. The poet ridicules the picture of Hitler pasted on blackboards in schools to brainwash the children. THE END OF HITLER:

The poet who was longing to kill Hitler felt acutely disappointed when Hitler died. She also wanted to die so that her bones could do some harm to Hitlers bones. What a horrible idea! The poet committed suicide to implement his diabolic scheme. But her bones were taken out and glued together to present a model of Hitler, showing his Meinkampf look. In the meantime, Hitlers empire disintegrated (symbolized in the poem by the fall of the black telephone). The villagers rejoiced over the fall of Hitlers regime and danced round the skeleton and stamped on it and desecrated it, thinking it was Hitlers skeleton. Seeing this, the poet was very happy. Though only a skeleton now, her dream of Hitlers downfall had at last come true and she felt immensely happy. LADY LAZARUS: SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TITLE: The story of Lazarus features in the Bible. Lazarus remained dead in his grave for three days and then was resurrected by Jesus. Sylvia Plath uses this Biblical reference to project the extermination of Jews by Nazis in the German concentration camps. The pity is that no Jesus came to revive these unfortunate Jews. Plath regards herself as Lady Lazarus who has been twice saved from death. But her third suicidal attempt was not defeated by any divine force. PLATHS RESURRECTION: Plath says that she died and was re-born twice. She became a walking miracle. The Nazis peeled off the skin of the murdered Jews and used it as a lampshade. Referring to this ghastly incident, Plath says that her own skin has become bright as a Nazi lampshade and her feet are light as a paper weight. Being re-born, she hopes that she will get back her flesh soon. She is only thirty years old. Like the cat, she can die and be re-born nine times. She died first when she was ten. It was due to an accident. When she was twenty, she attempted to commit suicide. She consumed a large dose of sleeping pills and hid in the basement. The rescuers came and picked the worms off her body like sticky pearls. She envisions a third attempt. She feels angry when the insensitive peanut-crunching onlookers stare at her body being unwrapped. However, she is able to resurrect herself without any help, unlike the Biblical Lazarus. THE ART OF DYING:

Plath regards dying as an art. She is proud that she does it exceptionally well. It feels like hell and yet feels real. The only thing that upsets her is onlookers rushing to look at the scars, feel her heartbeat and touch her hair or her clothes. She addresses Death as Herr Doktor and says that she is the magnum opus or masterpiece seized by Death. She is a pure gold baby melted by Death. Her dead body was burnt down to ashes. But she has managed to rise again with her red hair intact. SUMMARY: Plath in the poem Daddy sympathizes with the Jews who suffered during the reign of Hitler. She wishes to kill Hitler. But he was already dead and the poet sees a life-size statue and describes it. She wants him to come back alive so that she can satisfy her lifelong desire to kill him. Hitler ruined many towns. The poet sympathizes with the oppressed Jews that she begins to talk and think like them. The mindless Hitler is associated in the poem with a chuffing engine, a roller, a cleft-footed devil, etc. the poet is scared by Hitlers Luftwaffe, his political slogans (gobbledygoo), his neat moustache and blue eyes. Plath commits suicide so that he could do harm to Hitlers bones. But her intention does not materialize as her bones are taken out and glued together to make a model of Hitler. In the meantime, Hitlers empire disintegrates and the villagers desecrated the bone model of Hitler, thinking that the skeleton is made of Hitlers bones. The poets ghost rejoiced over this development. Plath has quoted the character of Lazarus from the Book of John, in the Bible. When Lazarus died, Jesus resurrected him from his grave. Lazars came out of his grave and his death clothes were removed and he became a living person. Plath takes the myth of Lazarus as a basis of her poem. Plath, using the myth of Lazarus, enacts her own death. She describes her anguish and humiliation by comparing the Nazi operations to the medical treatment she received. The insensitive public, who viewed her physical appearance after the suicidal attempts, insulted her she felt. But she had a desperate will to live and fight. She felt she would be resurrected after her death. She refers to the phoenix. The phoenix, a mythological bird, was able to live for 500 years. Similarly, Plath would be re-born out of the ashes. Lady Lazarus thus brilliantly depicts Plaths agony, victimization and her will to live and fight back. QUIZ:

1. When Hitler died, Plath was ____ years old. a) 15 b) 10 c) 20

2. Daddy is ____. a) Plaths father b) Plaths father-in-law c) Hitler

3. War is described as ____. a) An engine b) a roller c) a tarot pack

4. Hitler was a ____. a) Militarist b) panzer-man c) painter

5. The Nazi emblem was ____. a) The cross b) the swastika c) Frisco seal

6. Plath attempts suicide once in ____ years. a) 5 b) 10 c) 15

7. Lady Lazarus is a ____. a) Sonnet b) elegy c) dramatic monologue

8. Plath describes herself as Deaths ____. a) Gold baby b) ashes c) wedding ring

9. Plath addresses Death as ____. a) Herr Doktor b) Herr Father c) Herr Friend

10. The mythological bird referred in Lady Lazarus is ____. a) Nightingale ASSIGNMENT: b) Phoenix c) Thrush

1. Describe the appearance of Hitler. 2. How was the life of Jews in Germany during the reign of Hitler? 3. What are the sister poems of Lady Lazarus? 4. What is the theme of the poem Lady Lazarus? 5. The German tongue stuck in the poets jaw like _____. 6. The toe of Hitlers statue was as big as _____. 7. The Novel written by Plath is _____. 8. Lazarus was the brother of _____. GLOSSARY: 1. Cleft 2. Gypsy 3. Polack 4. Decade 5. Annihilate 6. Lucifer 7. Vanish FAQ: 1. Explain the myth of Lazarus. 2. Describe the statue of Hitler. DISCUSSION: 1. Discuss Plaths sympathy for Jews with reference to the poems Daddy and Lady Lazarus. 2. Discuss Plaths idea of death as an art. CASE STUDY: Have you ever attempted writing poems to reveal your wrong deeds? FEEDBACK: - a split, crack or partial division in a persons body. - a member of a race of people who travel round. - an offensive word for a person from Poland. - a period of ten years. - to destroy something completely. - Satan. - disappear.

Your suggestions please..