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Alexis Sanchez

English 102

Professor Batty

September 25 2017

The Fascist State of Mind: An Analysis of Sylvia Plaths poem Lady Lazarus

Most people usually associate oppression with a fascist society or a particular dictator,

but the truth is that some of the most oppressive forces can come from within. This is the type of

oppression the famous poet Sylvia Plath experienced herself. Plaths mind was ultimately her

greatest oppressor because of her battle with depression. Depression is a debilitating mental

illness characterized by persistently depressed mood that can potentially lead to suicide. In

addition to depression, Plath also faced oppression from outside sources. She grew up in the

1940s when mental health sufferers were treated unfairly. Ultimately, this lead Plath to write her

famous poem Lady Lazarus. This poem chronicles Plath transforming from an oppressed

women to a terrifying oppressive force herself. Throughout this poem, Plath sinks deep into the

hurt she experienced from others inability to understand the pain she endured. Interestingly,

many find Plaths poem offensive due to its grotesque and provocative imagery. Although many

believe that Plaths poem Lady Lazarus inappropriately equates others pain to that of her own,

with further examination of the historicism, repetition, and World War Two imagery used in the

poem, it is clear that Plath simply aims to convey the oppressive nature of depression.

The stigma surrounding mental illness during the time Plath grew up explains Lady

Lazaruss underlying theme of depression. Plath grew up in the 1940s and 50s a time where

mental illness was stigmatized. Because of this, Plaths depression worsened and lead her to

attempt suicide many times. After one of Plaths suicide attempts she documented in her journal
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to feeling reborn after she woke up; waking to a new world, with no name, being born again,

not a women (Austin 415). Plaths feeling of rebirth after her suicide attempt parallel the

immense imagery of rebirth in Lady Lazarus. For example, in the last stanza of the poem,

Plath illustrates Lady Lazarus rising out of ashes and being reborn into a monstrous

creature,Out of the ash / I rise with my red hair/ And eat men like air(Plath 28). The jarring

imagery ignites the feeling of fear for Lady Lazarus. She is reborn and ready to eat any man who

stands in her way. Through this, Plath communicates her desire to rise above the stigma of

mental illness during her time and annihilate all those who stand in her way. Lady Lazarus serves

as a vessel for Plath to express her innermost feelings about her rage she feels against the

oppressing world around her.

The use of World War Two imagery in Lady Lazarus symbolizes everyone who falls

under Plaths definition of oppressed, including herself. Plath has been known for her use of

World War Two symbols in many of her poems. These controversial lines appear in the second

and third stanzas when Plath compares her skin to be as fine Jew Linen (Sylvia 5). She also

refers herself to be as bright as a Nazi Lampshade. (Sylvia 9). Through her diction Plath

compares her oppression to that of Jewish people during the Holocaust. With this in mind, Plath

reveals the power struggle that exist within her depressive mind. Since her skin is the part of

herself that carries the skin of Nazis, the oppression exists within the walls of her own skin. In

other words, Plath describes how debilitating depression is because she feels she is a prisoner in

her own skin. Furthermore, she feels that her depression is inescapable and the only way she can

break out of it is to break out of her own skin.

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Many believe that Plaths World War Two imagery is offensive. Some argue that when

Plath compares her skin to that of Jewish people during the Holocaust she diminishes the

struggle they endured. Although this comparison seems inappropriate, many fail to understand

how Plath views oppression. Adorning Lady Lazarus with the skin of the oppressed serves to

empower those who suffer. Further supporting this notion literary analyst Murphy argues, This

configuration flips the dichotomy of the oppressor/oppressed so the oppressed body ends up on

top(Murphy 117). Flipping the roles is one way that Plath finds power in pain. She decides to

conquer her fear of the oppressor by embodying the oppressing force. Moreover, reason Plath

choses World War Two imagery is because it was the war that was present during her life as she

lived during World War Two. The importance of the imagery doesnt lie in the type of oppressor

she chose. Rather, the importance of the imagery lies within how crippling Plaths depression felt

for her to describe it in such a manner.

Plaths use of repetition expresses the rage she felt towards others insensitivity after her

first suicide attempt. The repetition in the poem begins when Plath reveals her reasons for

attempting suicide. She writes, I do it so it feels like hell/ I do it so it feels real / I guess you

could say Ive a call (Plath 7). When Plath says that she ends her life because it feels like hell

and it feels real she implies that by attempting suicide she is reassuring herself of the darkness

that happens within her mind. At the same time, the repetition speeds up the pace to show how

quickly someone with thoughts of depression can escalate. After Plath reveals part of her

motives for ending her life the repetition ceases when she says, I guess you could say Ive a

call in order to put emphasis on the fact that Plath felt that suicide was her only choice. The

repetition continues as Plath details the moment she awakes in the hospital after her suicide
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attempt. She exclaims how she wakes up in broad day and was brought to the The same

place, same face, the same brute (18). The combination of the urgent tone followed by the

repetition of same reflects how the familiarity of the world quickly reminded Plath that she had

failed at taking her life and how tragic that moment was for her. Finally, the last word she repeats

is charge which explains the excitement that others had when she awoke. From the eyeing of

my scars there is charge (Plath 20). The charge that Plath mentions here, represents a cry of

excitement from the people who realize she is alive. The crowd celebrates the life of a young

person but disregards that, in this instance, it is a tragic failure for Plath. This lack of

understanding from the crowd ignites rage in Plath. The rage conveyed by Plath may be directed

towards others; however, the true rage is really directed towards the fact that she still must live.

In these lines, Plath conveys how depression holds the power to take ones life.

The true oppressor that Plath described in her poem Lady Lazarus is revealed to be her

depression. Plaths history, World War Two symbolism, and repetition proves that Plath doesnt

mean to offend, but simply to express the complexity of her mind as she faces a debilitating

illness. Granted, this poem is at times grotesque and frightening however, poems like this are

incredibly important to read because they help dismantle the stigma surrounding mental health.

Often, the best way to eliminate misunderstanding is to desensitize ourselves to the

uncomfortable truth of the darkness that exist within ourselves. Lady Lazarus demonstrates that

there is a real value to decensoring our darkest and most destructive thoughts and a very real

danger of ignoring them.

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Works Cited

Austin, David Craig. "Plath, Sylvia 1932-1963." Modern American Women Writers. Ed. Elaine

Showalter, Lea Baechler, and A. Walton Litz. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1991.

411-24. Scribner Writer Series. Web. 25 Sept. 2017.

Mayo Clinic Staff. "ECT: Treating Severe Depression." Mayo Clinic. Mayo Foundation for

Medical Education and Research, 09 May 2017. Web. 10 Dec. 2017.

Murphy, Jacqueline Shea. "'This Holocaust I Walk In:' Consuming Violence in Sylvia Plath's

Poetry." Bucknell Review 1995: 104-17. Rpt. in Poetry Criticism. Ed. Elisabeth Gellert.

Vol. 37. Detroit: Gale, 2002. Literature Resource Center. Web. 25 Sept. 2017.

Plath, Sylvia. "Lady Lazarus." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 25 Sept. 2017.
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