Sylvia Plath - Lady Lazarus

     The poem “Lady Lazarus” by Sylvia Plath was an interesting poem but it was very difficult to understand.  In the poem she is comparing herself to Lazarus, giving the impression that her poem is about rebirth.  Through the title of this poem, she strongly suggests that her poem is from a female’s view, which faces death and rebirth.  In line 17 of the poem, she makes a reference to Lazarus by mentioning a grave cave that is very similar to the tomb in which Lazarus was buried and resurrected from.  Throughout the entire poem, she refers to the life of a Jew in a Nazi concentration camp.  She uses a simile and a metaphor when she says, “my skin bright as a Nazi lampshade...My face featureless, fine Jew linen.”  This is an example of the history of Nazis creating lampshades from the skin of a Jew.  Another  Jew reference is made using an extended metaphor when Plath says, “A cake of soap, a wedding ring, a gold filling."  All of these personal items were confiscated while the Jews were in the concentration camps.  It is very possible that she viewed her life as a concentration camp while she was in the hospital because the doctors had control over her every move.  Through her life she was dominated by the male population.  The male population  forced her “imprisoned” role upon her.  This poem is a riot against established social institutions and power politics.  The speaker in the poem is a woman who has the great and terrible gift of being reborn.  The only problem is that she must die first.  She is a good, plain, and practical woman.  Throughout the poem Plath refers to her own attempts at suicide.  In 1953, at the age of twenty, she attempted suicide by consuming a huge number of sleeping pills and hid herself in the cellar beneath the house for three days.  She attempted it again by driving off the road but survived the ‘accident’ yet again.  This poem expresses the agony of being reborn.  It points to her frustrated attempts at suicide.                   

                        

Rukhaya. "Poetry Analysis: Sylvia Plath's "Lady Lazarus"" Find Health, Education, Science & Technology Articles, Reviews, How-To and Tech Tips At Bright Hub - Apply To Be A Writer Today! 14 Sept. 2010. Web. 12 Apr. 2011.