Death Wish in Selected Poems by Sylvia Plath

Abstract

Sylvia Plath was a poet who committed suicide in 1963 when she was only 31 years old, leaving two children, and a body of brilliant work. Some critics described her as the poetess of death, for most of her poetry revolves around the theme of death. In more than one poem she presents a wish for death. This wish differs from one poem to another. This research examines some of these poems and studies these different wishes and attributes them to certain reasons that might be personal, domestic, social, or psychological. For this reason, the research is an attempt to reveal the reasons that made Plath think seriously of death. The research examines four of her famous poems namely “Daddy”, “Lady Lazarus”, “Birth Day Present”, and “I Am Vertical,” where in each she refers to a different motive that pushes her towards death.