The final lines reference the act of trepanning in which a hole is drilled in one’s head in order to relieve pressure and as a very violent and unnecessary “cure” for a variety of remedies. Comment critically. She has wrapped her thumb up and the white bandage makes her think of these foreboding and distasteful figures. She does not know whose side they are on, and laments to her "homunculus" (a little man) that she is ill. She took a painkiller, hoping to get rid of the "papery feeling," but feels sad about it. The body in "Cut" is very much alive and engaged, and the imagery reflects this vivacity - Plath uses words like "red plush," "pink fizz," "stain," "Redcoats," and "pulp". Essays for Sylvia Plath: Poems. The unceasing flow of blood - and the ambivalent glee that the speaker explores - could be a response to a world progressively more consumed by potential destruction, and unsure how to process it. What's your thoughts? Plath compares her thumb to a scalped pilgrim, a member of the Ku Klux Klan, a dirty girl, a stump, and a trepanned veteran. In contrast to this image, which is dark and disturbing, is the lighter one of the “turkey wattle”. Reading of Plathâs âCrossing the Waterâ Commentary Darkness sometimes yields a supernatural light whose power can modify the nightâs blackness, causing the soul to transcend all earthly anguish. It was included in Ariel. It was included in Ariel. First Tercet: Blackness. Plath is often considered to be the speaker of the poem as it is recorded that at one point she almost cut her own thumb off just like the speaker in ‘Cut’. She would not have had time to compose the poem at the time of the incident but it certainly provided material for her to write a poem. So she decided to make fun of all current and old society, and the drama of life, because she was being so dramatic about her thumb... She was genius enough to point out a fault just be over-dramaticizing her cut thumb. A reader should also take note of the dedication that appears before the first stanza of ‘Cut’. Ostensibly, it is about a real-life incident in which Plath accidentally almost cut her thumb off while chopping an onion. However, these are not the only topics that Sylvia Plath has covered in her career as a poet. The whole poem feels colorless, loveless, and hopeless. It reads “For Susan O’Neill Roe”. It is able to recognize monotony, commenting on the regularity of the wall... Would you consider Sylvia Plath's Daddy to be an expression against the voice of patriarchy? Copyright © 1999 - 2021 GradeSaver LLC. Of pink fizz. Please log in again. "Cut" is spoken by a woman who has just cut her thumb while slicing an onion. The Cut â Sylvia Plath . Critics think it played an important role as a precursor to Plath's novel The Bell Jar, as both speaker and protagonist ⦠In this short but beloved poem, the narrator is a wall mirror in what is likely a woman's bedroom. Finally, the poem can be understood as a political allusion to the Cuban Missile Crisis and other contemporary political dramas. The blood continues to flow despite the pressure she employs, and her emotions follow suit, as she remains profuse in description. Now it is a “Saboteur” and a “Kamikaze man” as if it is trying to create death or is headed for death itself. The mirror is personified - that is, it is endowed with human traits. She cut it rather than the onion she was supposed to be chopping. "Sylvia Plath: Poems “Cut” Summary and Analysis". (3) I am learning peacefulness, lying by myself quietly (4) As the ⦠What bridges both responses to the thumb is a sense of detachment from the member. But, similes always use “like” or “as” between the two things being juxtaposed. Not affiliated with Harvard College. Additionally, they are made of paper. print preview back DAVID TRINIDAD âViciousness in the Kitchenâ: The Backstory of Sylvia Plathâs âLesbosâ On Saturday, October 13, 1962, the day after she wrote âDaddy,â Sylvia Plath woke at 4:00 a.m., wrote a rough draft of the poem âEavesdropper,â then went for her weekly horseback riding lesson. This is of course a reference to the blood that’s running down her hand. The skin also appears to the poet as a “hat,” as if the flap can be taken off and put back on again. Throughout, Plath makes use of unusual and surprising language. Read the Study Guide for Sylvia Plath: Poems…, A Herr-story: âLady Lazarusâ and Her Rise from the Ash, Winged Rook Delights in the Rain: Plath and Rilke on Everyday Miracles, View the lesson plan for Sylvia Plath: Poems…, View Wikipedia Entries for Sylvia Plath: Poems…. Her skin is rocking back and forth, barely holding on where she cut it. Winter dawn is the color of metal, She calls the wound both a "Saboteur" and the "Kamikaze man" as she notices the blood staining the white "Ku Klux Klan" gauze with which she has dressed it. Though she holds the thumb, it behaves like a bottle of "pink fizz.". She clutches at her hand, referring to her thumb as a “bottle / Of pink fizz”. ‘Cut’ was completed in October of 1962 around the time that Plath was writing some of her other most important poems, include ‘Lady Lazarus’. Traditionally, the word “image” is related to visual sights, things that a reader can imagine seeing, but imagery is much more than that. Firstly, there are many references to American history - the pilgrim and the Indian, the KKK, and the redcoats - while a "Babushka" is a Russian item. Essays for Sylvia Plath: Poems. These disparate images come together to create a very unusual poem that creates a clear picture of the injury and alludes to the speaker’s mental and emotional state. Structure of Cut âCutâ by Sylvia Plath is a ten stanza poem that is separated into sets of four lines, known as quatrains. By Dr Oliver Tearle âWordsâ was one of the last poems Sylvia Plath wrote before her tragic suicide in February 1963. Sylvia Plath: Poems essays are academic essays for citation. At the halfway point of ‘Cut’ Plath reasserts the thrilling nature of this accident. GradeSaver, 4 January 2012 Web. Which word or phrase in Stanza 1 helps the reader understand what unmisted means? ... Will created Poem Analysis back in 2015 and has a team of the best poetry experts helping him analyse poems from the past and present. These quatrains do not follow a specific rhyme scheme or metrical pattern, this is a technique known as free verse.. ed. They are put on an equal level with the lake and boat. What's your thoughts? Sylvia Plath: Poems study guide contains a biography of poet Sylvia Plath, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis of select poems. Secondly, the poem was written on the day that Khrushchev refused President Kennedy's demand that the Russian missiles be removed from Cuba. (Plath would kill herself on 11 February 1963, in a London apartment she had decided to rent because W. B. Yeats had once lived there; âWordsâ was written on 1 February.) It is through advertising that we are able to contribute to charity. The poem describes, in unrhymed tercets or three-line stanzas (though with a fair bit of consonance, assonance, and pararhyme), Plathâs dawn ride on the horse, Ariel, across the countryside.We begin with the world still in the darkness of night-time, and Plath motionless on Ariel (âStasis in darknessâ); then, gradually, the blue of daylight ⦠‘Cut’ by Sylvia Plath is a ten stanza poem that is separated into sets of four lines, known as quatrains. We respect your privacy and take protecting it seriously. They allude to larger personal and mental problems with phrases like “I have taken a pill” and “I am ill”. This gruesome image is only the first in a series of very clear and evocative depictions of the injury. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Sylvia Plath's poetry. What a thrill – These lines address her injury on the surface, but they are deeper than that. Analysis Of Cut By Sylvia Plath 1859 Words | 8 Pages. In one letter, she referred to Ted as a "little man," which is precisely what a homunculus is. The top of its head has come right off. Sylvia Plath â 24 October 1962 (1932 â 1963) Short sharp snappy words cut to a core ⦠appropriate construction considering the event being described ⦠there is no time for long deliberation. However, she soon begins to feel physically ill, and takes a painkiller to get rid of her "thin / Papery feeling." The Question and Answer section for Sylvia Plath: Poems is a great These half-rhymed words conclude the poem and once more set the poet’s hand as separate from her. Note that the shock therapy undergone by Plath to treat her depression had no healing effect. You can read the full poem here. The lines are all quite short, ranging from two words up to seven. Plath makes use of several poetic techniques in ‘Cut’. Metaphors can be seen throughout as the speaker addresses her thumb and everything it makes her think of. The poem can also be understood as a feminist expression. Sylvia Plath Cut Analysis. A friend of Plath’s, Roe is known to have helped her after her divorce from Ted Hughes. I honestly think she cut her thumb, and was pissed about it. The sense seems to be that death has finally claimed Plath, and there is nothing exciting or vivid about it. Sylvia Plath, âYadwigha, on a Red Couch, Among Lilies: A Sestina for The Douanier,â Christian Science Monitor, p. 8. She considers this to be a celebration. This speaks to fragility and the fact that someone had to âcutâ them out. Her "turkey wattle" blood rolls onto the carpet, and she steps on it. Her excitable tone begins immediately - she says it is a "thrill" that the top of her thumb is almost gone except for a hinge of skin, which flaps like a "hat." Homunculus, I am ill. It is “A celebration”. Her metaphors are complex and on the surface, strange. Sylvia Plath wrote this poem during the period leading up to her death by suicide in February 1963. First, a brief summary of âArielâ. Analysis of Walking in Winter Stanza One Lines 1-4 . These lines are less clear, but they continue the feeling of alienation that has spanned the entire poem. It was a shock in amongst the mundanity of everyday life. The cut thumb is referenced to some disturbing yet humorous things. I can taste the tin of the sky â- the real tin thing. Ostensibly, it is about a real-life incident in which Plath accidentally almost cut her thumb off while chopping an onion. You can read Plathâs poem âWordsâ here before proceeding to our analysis below. Tulips, written in 1961, is a free verse poem that deals with Sylvia Plath's state of being whilst in hospital for an appendectomy.She initially named it Sickroom Tulips in Hospital but shortened the title later on.. About âCutâ First published in her posthumous volume Ariel, âCutâ is often considered one of Plathâs greatest poems. Plath is considered to be one of the best poets of her generation. A little about Sylvia Plath She was writer that really liked to write about her feelings, what was inside of her. Plath continues to address her hand as if it is not her own. Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site. The top quite gone These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Sylvia Plath's poetry. Whereas âCutâ is full of energy and vivid emotions, âContusionâ conveys a picture of Plathâs lifeless, hopeless, doom-laden state of mind, as if preparing for her own death. In this interpretation, the thumb becomes a phallic symbol, and the cut a representation of castration. Plathâs speaker shares the experience in colorful yet subdued imagery. It is “Dead white”. Written in 1962 â Plath was in deep depression- could be a reflection of how she felt at that time â displays the self destructive behavior that contributed to her suicide attempts . This is perhaps the most important technique at work in ‘Cut’. Sylvia Plath: Poems essays are academic essays for citation. In the first stanza of ‘Cut’ the speaker notes, very bluntly, that cutting the top of her thumb was “a thrill”. resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel. Some of the best include the fizzing pink of her thumb and its blood, the “turkey wattle” she uses to compare the dripping blood to, and that of the darkening and tarnishing bandage. In all these images, she is seeing the thumb as something apart from her, something she observes rather than experiences. The day after she met Ted Hughes at the St. Botolphâs party in Cambridge, on Feb. 26, 1956, Sylvia Plath was supposed to be writing a paper on Racineâs play Phèdre. Her marriage to Ted Hughes was failing, but her ⦠She calls him a “homunculus” or a little man, something she’d done before in other writings. In order to understand this poem completely one needs to understand a bit about her. Sylvia Plath is a well-known poet, most recognized for her poems concerning men and the role of women as wives, daughters, and mothers. When using this technique a poet is saying that one thing is another thing, they aren’t just similar. In the sixth stanza, some readers have taken as a reference to Ted Hughes, Plath’s ex-husband who had recently been publicly revealed as cheating on her. The fourth stanza depicts Plath as stepping on the blood on the carpet, likely making it a permanent stain. Read more about Sylvia Plath. Please continue to help us support the fight against dementia. The wound's "pulp" has been silenced, like a "Trepanned veteran" (a veteran whose skull has been wounded or operated on) and a "dirty girl.". Poem is basically about a woman who has cut her thumb while preparing a meal, and the cut doesnât seem to be accidental. Sylvia Plath: Poems essays are academic essays for citation. Clutching my bottle The poem uses a series of images to describe what happened and what it made the poet think of afterward. However, the connection makes sense when one realizes that the violent figures she mentions â a saboteur, a member of the KKK, a veteran - are all male. The next metaphor she uses to describe her thumb is that of “Redcoats” running out of a gap. Cut by Sylvia Plath. The hard “d” syllable contributes to the solidity of the line, as does the use of end-punctuation. She begins by experiencing a "thrill," and grows fascinated by the wounded thumb, which takes on the role of a scalped pilgrim, a bottle of pink soda, and redcoats. Cedars, S.R. She tried to kill herself a number of times throughout the early 60s, and in February of 1963, she succeeded. 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