Sylvia Plath: Death and Victimization in Daddy and Colossus

Sylvia Plath was one of the most exceptionally dynamic poets of the twentieth century, fostering the confessional poetry genre. Known for her brilliantly thought-provoking poems and short stories, ironically, her most famous works were written during the most turbulent times of her life. Death presents itself as one of the most prominent themes in Sylvia Plath's work, constantly hand-in-hand with that of victimization, oppression, and suffering. The idea of death in Plath's works often circulated around the early death of her father, and her several attempts of suicide inflicted by her husband's infidelity.

Generally, death is often represented in literature as a rebirth of sorts, but in Plath's poems, she uses death as a liberating force and a final destination. The passing of Plath's father, Otto Plath, left her with intense feelings of resentment and grief that transformed itself into her relationships with others, and heavily influenced her work. On the themes of death and victimization, Plath's poems “Daddy”, and “Colossus” are prime examples of the influence Otto Plath, her husband, Ted Hughes, and the male-dominated literary sphere had on her.

Get quality help now

Marrie pro writer

Verified writer

5 (204)

“ She followed all my directions. It was really easy to contact her and respond very fast as well. ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

The poem, “Daddy”, is addressed in the first person to someone close to the speaker. Undoubtedly, Otto Plath and Ted Hughes inspired the poem. Plath used and distorted autobiographical facts to portray a sado-masochistic and, ultimately, mutually destructive relationship (Cam 431). Before Plath was able to build a meaningful relationship with her father, Otto Plath died while she was still very young. His death was made clear to readers when she stated in Daddy, 'I was ten when they buried you' (Plath 57).

The failure to establish a connection with Otto was due to Plath’s fear of him, causing her to distance herself from him prior to his death. In the poem she says, “I could never talk to you” (Plath 24). His sudden death left her with unsettled emotions, which molded Plath’s life, as well as her relationships with men. The lack of closure following Otto’s death caused her to crave resolution, and in turn she replaced Otto for another father figure, Ted Hughes. The theme of death is exemplified in Daddy, due to the effective use of imagery in the poem. In lines 6-8, the poet says, “Daddy, I have had to kill you. You died before I had time- Marble-heavy, a bag full of God…” (Plath 6-8). This shows that the poet idolized her father, thinking he was God or an authoritative figure. The only way for Plath to free herself of the memory of her father was by “killing him”, or confronting the memories of this man that torture her.

This poem is a very strong expression of resentment against the male domination of women and also the violence of all kinds for which man is responsible. The speaker expresses her rage against her 'daddy', but daddy himself is a symbol of male. As well as a symbol of more general agents and forces like science and reason, violence and war, the German and theirs Hitler, and all other “inhuman” agents of oppression in the world. The speaker is also a symbol of female and the creative force, humility, love and humanity in general.

This poem can also be analyzed from a psychological point of view. It is the outpour of a neurotic anger through the channel of creative art, or poetry. It is a kind of therapy. The poem is also significant for its assonance, allusion and images. Though it is slightly autobiographical, the poem must be interpreted symbolically and psychologically without limiting it to the poetess’s life and experiences also.

The poem begins with the angry attack on daddy: “you”, “black shoe”, “I have had to kill you”. The name -calling continues: daddy is a ghostly statue, a seal, a German, Hitler himself, a man-crushing engine, a tank driver (Panzer man), a swastika symbol of the Nazi, a devil, a haunting ghost and vampire, and so on. The speaker has lived for thirty years, poor and white, as in the Nazi concentration camps of the Second World War. She is not able to breathe or express her pain. Her tongue is stuck in her jaw, or in the barbell wires. She is always scared of daddy or the German images of terror. She feels like a Jew herself. She feels she is crushed under the roller as the Polish were killed by the German in 1941.

She is afraid of the German language that is obscene and vague. She remembers the concentration camps like Dachan, Auswitz and Belsen where thousands of Jews were tortured and killed. She feels she is a descendant of a gypsy ancestress (ancient mother). She is afraid of the neat mustache like that of Hitler, and the Aryan eye. The image of a boot in the face comes to her troubled mind. She thinks her daddy had a brutish (savage) black heart. She remembers the image of a strict teacher near the blackboard, which is also her father’s image. She was ten when he died. But she wanted to kill him again, and throw him out of her mind. She also tried to die herself, but they prevented her. Then she made an effigy or (model) of him and killed it. She had killed him and his vampire that drank her blood for seven years. She claims that all the villagers also hated and still hate him. So, he can go back and die forever. She calls him a bastard.

The extremity of anger in this poem is not justifiable as something possible with a normal person in real life. We should understand that this is partly due to the neurosis that Plath was actually suffering from. Besides, it is essential to understand from the psychoanalytical point of view, the poem does not literally express reality alone: it is the relieving anger and frustration, and an alternative outlet of the neurotic energy in the form of poetic expression. Furthermore, it is necessary to understand the anger as being directed against the general forces of inhumanity, violence and destruction only symbolized by ‘daddy’. In fact, Plath’s father loved her very much when she was a child, before he died when she was only eight. So her death was always a shock to her. But, while she felt tortured and destitute without her father, she also felt suppressed by her father’s dominating image. The idea is mixed and complex. She said, “He was an autocrat… I adored and despaired him, and I probably wished many times that he were dead”. The poem moves far beyond the father-daughter team if we read carefully. By a process of association and surrealism, the protest moves from father to Hitler and then to inhumanity and oppression. Sylvia Plath also said that “the personal experience is very important, but…. I believe (poetry) should be relevant to larger things such as Hiroshima and Dachau and so on.” This means that the frustration and anger against a dominating father who left her a destitute has here become a starting point or central symbol for larger issues including Hitler, torture and inhumanity. The poem is, therefore, also about the victimization of modern war. The poem is only slightly autobiographical, but it is more general.

The theme of female protest is perhaps the most striking symbolic meaning in the poem. The female speaker represents the creative force and she is angry with the destructive forces symbolized by her daddy and the male. But, we should also see the poem as a psychological poem that allows the speaker to relieve her neurotic energy through the channel of creativity. The speaker says, “I’m trough”, meaning “I’m satisfied” at the end. She is relieved. The allusions of the Second World War are all real. The anger against the German, soldiers, Hitler and his Nazi party is not too much. The reader will justify this anger if he tries to imagine the inhumanity of Hitler.