Plath 시의 여성 정체성 추구에 관한 연구

Abstract

This thesis aims to examine how Sylvia Plath pursues her female identity in her poetry, especially in 'October Poems.' In the patriarchal society, poetry was regarded as a male domain, so females could not have chances to express their identities by writing poems. The patriarchal society assumed that a woman should be an angel of a house and a virtuous one. Plath denied the assumption to stand up to oppression of the society and find her true identity. Plath's poems depict women living in the jar, that is, the ideology of the patriarchal society. In "Daddy", the woman speaker is under the oppression of her father, and in "Odd for Ted", the speaker is supposed to belong to a man. Also, "On the Decline of Oracles" shows how women are shut up within the patriarchal ideology. "Maenad", "The Disquieting Muses", and "Medusa" deal with the mother-daughter relationship in which a mother teaches and bequeaths her daughter the values learned from the patriarchal society. Plath married Ted Hughes to start the new life of her own and escape from the influences of her parents. She tried to be a good wife and a poet, but she got tired of her one-sided sacrifice. Her marriage was unstable due to Hughes's unfaithfulness which led to the dissolution of her marriage life. "The Applicant", "Purdah" and "The Couriers" show how marriage life forces women to make a sacrifice. In "Sting," the speaker feels pity for a queen bee stuck with torn wings which is not unlike herself. Plath chose writing poetry to find her identity. Writing made her a 'small god', and it was the reason to live for her. In "Lady Lazarus" and "Ariel", Plath makes an effort to find her identity, and in "Fever 103˚" she tries to recover her self-esteem by achieving her true identity. In "Edge," her last poem, Plath has completed her quest for her female identity. For Plath, poetry is a way of establishing her own self-esteem and healing her of much pain.