In Sylvia Plath's "Lady Lazarus", readers may find it hard to understand the meaning of the poem. In the poem, the author is trying to portray a meaning deeper than what is being said. In "Lady Lazarus" Plath uses tone, imagery, and symbolism to describe her obsession with suicide being the meaning of her life and also the guilt of constantly being brought back to life after trying many attempts to kill herself.
The definition of imagery is the collective set of images in a poem or other literary work. The imagery that Plath uses in her poem leaves the reader to assume that her soul is darkened by the torture that she endures, but it also seems as if she finds a way to poke fun at her circumstance: What a million filaments. / The peanut-crunching crowd shoves in to see / Them unwrap me hand and foot - The big striptease. / Gentlemen, ladies, (25-30). She also refers to her body as disappearing and becoming food for the grave: The nose, the eye pits, the full set of teeth? / The sour breath / Will vanish in a day. / Soon, soon the flesh / The grave cave ate will be / At home on me (13-18). The most critical literary device throughout the entire poem is the symbolism that the author uses. This is the heart of Sylvia Plath's poem.
The definition of symbolism is a person, place, or thing in a narrative that suggests meanings beyond its literal sense. Throughout the poem, the author tied many scenarios of the holocaust and used them as examples of symbolism in her work. In the poem, Plath states: The first time it happened, I was ten. / It was an accident. / The second time I meant to last it out and not come back at all. / I rocked shut (35-39). A significant line in the poem is: So, so, Herr Doktor. / So, Herr Enemy. / I am your opus, I am your valuable (65-68). This line is most significant because Herr Doktor refers to the doctor that continues to bring her back to life and constantly tortures her and her feelings towards doctor treating her as if she were his work. It also seems as if she is trying to infer that her body should be treated as art and not a experiment. The author even goes as far as to refer her torturer as the devil: Herr God, Herr Lucifer / Beware / Beware (80-83). The author chooses to refer to her doctor as the devil to show the intensity of his existence and the impact that he has on Lady Lazarus. Some of the symbolism that Plath uses in the poem not only has reference to the holocaust, it also has reference to the bible. Lady Lazarus has a connection to the bible's Lazarus of Bethany. The doctor that constantly brings her back to life has a connection to the Gospel of John. When Lazarus died, Jesus brought him back to life. However, the resurrection of Lazarus was only to show the power that Jesus had, as with the doctor that continuously brought Lady Lazarus back to life.
"Lady Lazarus" by Sylvia Plath is a powerful poem. The poem has a strong an emotional meaning behind it yet the author finds a way to poke fun at the circumstances of the situation. The tone, imagery, and symbolism that are used throughout the poem visually explain the deeper meaning of her words. It leaves the reader understanding why the speaker is obsessed with suicide and why she makes it the meaning of her life.
