โDaddyโ by Sylvia Plath: A Critical Analysis
Sylvia Plath writes her poem โDaddyโ to communicate her deep feelings about her fatherโs life and death, as well as her terrible marriage. Sylvia Plath, the speaker in this poem, lost her father when she was 10 years old, at a period when she still adored him unreservedly. She eventually recognises her fatherโs oppressive power and compares him to a Nazi, a devil, and a vampire. Later, the struggle in her relationship with her spouse continues, resulting in a brief and difficult marriage. Sylvia Plath uses rich metaphor, imagery, rhyme, tone, and simile in her poem โDaddyโ to express her feelings of rage and bitterness toward her father and husband, as well as her experience of being oppressed for most of her life.
Though shoes and feet are a recurring motif in this poem, they take on different shades of meaning as the poem progresses, metaphor plays a big role in this poetry because strong metaphors are presented throughout the poem. The speaker compares herself to a foot that โlivesโ in a shoe, which is her father, in line two. On an abstract level, analysing this metaphor is far less useful than picturing it. The metaphor then conjures up a number of useful associations: In this poetry, a shoe protects the foot and keeps it warm. The shoe, on the other hand, is a trap, suffocating the foot. The term โblackโ conjures up images of death, while the shoeโs tight fit can conjure up images of a body in a coffin. As a result, Plath feels both protected and suffocated by her father. When the father is called a Nazi, the black shoe transforms into a military โbootโ (line 49).
The poemโs image aids the readerโs understanding of Plathโs difficult life. โA cleft in your chin instead of your foot/But no less a devil for that,โ for example, is how the devil is introduced. (53-54). The foot is mentioned again, this time in a suspicious manner, similar to the fatherโs origins. The devilโs hooves cleft in the foot is compared to the fatherโs chin cleft. The pictures of the father and the spouse, who is similar to the father in that he is a โvampireโ (72)โa bloodsucking zombie who continuously haunts her long after his deathโadd to this. Similar to how a vampire takes the blood of its victims, Plath recounts how her life was being drained away as a result of a marriage.
The poem appears to have an unusual rhyme pattern. Because it can be broken down into three parts, โDaddyโ is not a free-flowing poetry. The โooโ sound rhyming is evident throughout the verse. However, the order in which the lines rhyme is random. These inconsistencies reflect Plathโs life without her father, a life that fluctuated between happiness and despair in a short amount of time. The poem is also divided into five stanzas, each with five brief lines. โIf I have killed one man, I have killed twoโThe vampire who said he was you,โ as an example of this, โIf I have killed one man, I have killed twoโThe vampire who said he was you.โ (75) The imagery in these words is so strong that it overpowers the rhyme pattern.
This poem is written in the voice of an adult who is enraged. This fury might sometimes sound like a childโs sobbing. Plathโs persistent use of the name daddy, as well as the infantile repetitions โYou do not do, you do not doโ (1) and โDaddy, daddy, you bastardโ (2), demonstrate this (80). Her childhood fear propels her in directions that will lead her away from herself. She also immerses us in the realm of a childโs terror. โI have always been afraid of you,โ she says, using words that sound like those of a child looking out from behind โa barb wire snareโ (26) (41) The tone of the poem then shifts from fear of a child to a powerful lady near the finish. โSo daddy, I am finally through,โ she says. (73) โAnd I knew exactly what I had to do.โ (63) And in the final two stanzas, he exhibits a commanding attitude. Plath has mastered her abilities; she has extinguished all self-doubt, and she is demonstrating how she now has control over her fatherโs memories. She is self-assured enough to address her foe directly. The tone in these words also adds to the poemโs intensity. โDaddy, daddy, you bastardโ (80) has a stronger impact on listeners than โDaddy was a bastard.โ
In the seventh stanza of the poem, Plath employs multiple similes. โAn engine, an engine, an engine, an engine, an engine, an engine, an Like a Jew, chuffing me off. Dachau, Auschwitz, and Belsen for a Jew. I start speaking in a Jewish manner. โI am pretty sure I am a Jew.โ (31-35) The similes in this verse allow the reader to see the speakerโs immense pain in comparison to the torment and anguish millions of people had during World War II, eliciting sympathy from the reader since everyone deserves to grow up with two surviving parents. Plath compares her father to Adolf Hitler. โWith your Luftwaffe and your gobbledygoo, I have always been afraid of you.โ Also, your well-kept moustache And your beautiful blue Aryan eye.โ (41-44) Plath draws a link between her father and Hitler in that Hitler was responsible for the deaths of so many Jews. In a parallel universe, her father is Hitler, and she is a Jew.
โDaddyโ is a dark, pessimistic poetry. However, it is obvious that Plath was able to settle her difficulties by the poemโs end. She was also able to convey a tremendous deal of strength to the readers through the poetry. Her use of vivid metaphor, imagery, rhyme, tone, and simile as significant literary elements demonstrates this. โDaddy, daddy, you bastard, I am through,โ she says at the end of the poem, indicating that she has finally achieved independence.