Passion, Hatred, and Jealousy in Sylvia Plath's Poetry

Abstract

Abstract: Some of the most contentious poems written in the modern era are those by Sylvia Plath (Graham and Sontag, 2001). Finding the author's emotional expression in some of her most significant works is the goal of this study. Plath is able to convey the opposing emotions of intense hatred and love. The paper opens with how Plath perceives her father and the type of man he was. It shows that the abundant written expression of emotion actually possesses a complex cognitive structure; as such, it merits examination from both an intellectual and an emotional perspective. It makes the case that the emotion found in Plath's poetry is based on assessments and judgments the woman has made about things that have happened in her life. This logical aspect of her feelings is what lends structure to the purportedly free form "emotional" poetry. In order to demonstrate how Plath uses love, hate, and jealousy in her poetry to make sense of events in her life and reveal a cognitive molding agent, which gives her poems their coherence and meaning, these emotions are examined. Keywords: Sylvia Plath; love; hate; jealousy; emotions.