Blog #5: Lady Lazarus

I love the poem "Lady Lazarus" that was written by Sylvia Plath. I cannot begin to describe how I can relate to her and what she is feeling during this time in her life, when she wrote this. There is so much pain in her writing, especially this poem; it is clear that she suffered from depression. She mentions her yearning for death multiples times throughout the poem, as she tells of her attempts at suicide:

          "I have done it again, One year in every ten I manage it . . . This is Number Three . . . 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 . . . Dying Is an art, like everything else. I do it exceptionally well." (p1418-19)

It is clear as day, to me, that Sylvia is talking about her many attempts at suicide, although, I could be wrong. However, we do know that she died as a result of committing suicide and also suffered from mental illness-which included, at least, depression-that resulted in mental hospitalization more than once. There is a particular part in this poem that speaks to me in a language others might not recognize, and so I wonder if my hypothesis is correct. In this next passage, as Plath portrays her second attempt, she reveals an experience not known to many:

          "The second time I meant To last it out and not come back at all. I rocked shut As a seashell. They had to call and call And pick the worms off me like sticky pearls." (p1419)

In my opinion, I believe what Plath is expressing is her experience with electroshock therapy. Only individuals who have experienced such medical treatment would think of that when she speaks of "sticky pearls". If you have ever had electroshock therapy, you would know there are round, sticky, white things they put on you to deliver the shocks-this would greatly explain this part of the poem. There is, however, another alternative interpretation to this stanza. With the multiple attempts to kill herself, it would not be surprising if Sylvia was brought back to life with the help of a defibrillator, that uses white patches similar to what is used in electroshock therapy. Either way, we know she has undergone treatment and resuscitation, therefore, both are likely, but, in the end, does it really matter which one she meant? To me, it does not.

Being brought back to life is definitely something Plath portrays in this work of hers-you cannot miss it with her mention of Lazarus, who was raised from the dead by Jesus, and rising "Out of the ash . . . with my red hair. . ." I feel she wants her readers to know that she will find her place somewhere, just not here on earth. She could not live like other normal  people, but she did not want to either. Every time "they" brought her back, she was stronger, more knowledgeable, but still the same woman they sought to save.