In his reading, the text is indeterminate, with the words completely distinct from meaning. There is only one mention of what might be deemed pleasure – the woman smiles with a sense of accomplishment, perhaps at being dead herself, or perhaps because she took her children with her. There is something unspoiled about the flowers and the child. Also the garden used later on in the poem can be seen as a metaphor for the outside world. The ironic detachment lies in the social stigma against suicide, and the narrator's belief that it is of no great significance. There is a sense of finality and defeat; hope has fled. The moon looks down over this scene, but has no cause for sadness because she is used to "this sort of thing." Asked 5/28/2019 7:19:44 AM. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Sylvia Plath's poetry.Copyright © 1999 - 2020 GradeSaver LLC. Perhaps, therefore, the texts are telling the woman to live, to continue searching for the meaning behind their words. This poem, comprised of ten two-line stanzas, is famously difficult to summarize due to its ambiguous, abstruse nature. Several dead children are folded like serpents, each with a pitcher of milk. He considers "Edge" to be a "poetic epitaph." She wears a toga, and her feet are bare. 1 Answer/Comment. The woman has folded them into her body. Sorry, we can't write any assignments on this short forum space. Axelrod concludes, "On an edge between metaphysics and indeterminacy as well as between life and death, Plath's last poem gapes at the space separating words from their referents and meanings, while the moon's shadows 'crackle and drag' to commemorate the dissolution." Each dead child coiled, a white serpent, The illusion of a Greek necessity Flows in the scrolls of her toga, Her bare Feet seem to be saying: We have come so far, it is over. The allusions to Greek mythology and their suggesting that suicide is honorable and a necessity are described as only 'illusions'. ed. Instead I have given their page numbers in her Collected Personified as a woman, the moon looks down impassively because she is accustomed to such scenes of tragedy. These children, not only dead but also described as serpents, are seemingly dismissed at the end of the poem, “She is used to this sort of thing.” These strange depictions, which do not reflect at all Plath’s views or intentions towards her own children, call into question the premise of the poem and open it up to other interpretations.A useful text is ‘Sylvia Plath A Critical Study’ by Tim Kendall, IBSN 978-0-571-19235-9 published 2001 She has folded Them back into her body as … Get an … This poem, comprised of ten two-line stanzas, is famously difficult to summarize due to its ambiguous, abstruse nature. As is the case with many of her poems, the theme of death is quite conspicuous. The illusion of a Greek necessity . The feet suggest that they have traveled far but have now reached their end. The illusion of a Greek necessity Flows in the scrolls of her toga, Her bare Feet seem to be saying: We have come so far, it is over. She smiles because her feet have nowhere else to carry her. She takes little effort in fashioning the poem's form because "it is over." Updated 5/29/2019 3:26:37 AM. She compares this effect to rose petals which close when the garden "stiffens" and the night flower's odor issues forth. Edge The "perfected" woman's death is neither unnatural nor unusual, but instead merely one aspect of human existence. What is the boy now, who has lost his ball, "The illusion of a Greek necessity" Read the excerpt below from "The Ball Poem" by John Berryman and answer the question that follows. The accomplishment is doubly notable for her because they have already carried her so far. The woman cannot actually be perfected because her texts are merely "warring forces of signification." It seems to be about a woman who has recently committed or is soon to commit suicide.It begins with the description of a "perfected" woman, whose dead body smiles with accomplishment. She never attempted any deed of such atrocity, but the poem can be understood as at least a consideration of the possibility.The moon is an interesting image.
This allusion furthers the sense of suicidal feelings, especially when one remembers that the Greeks did not believe that suicide was unequivocally bad; in many cases, it was perceived as honorable.
GradeSaver, 4 January 2012 Web. I think the flowers represent innocence and perfection of the child.
There are also allusions to Medea ("the illusion of a Greek necessity"), who in the Greek myths avenged her husband's betrayal by killing their two children. No matter what she intended to write, the poems now mean various different things. Cedars, S.R. Instead, the poem is a confession of fatigue.However, critic Stephen Gould Axelrod looks at the poem through a very different lens – that of postmodernist and linguistic criticism. This poem does not aim to please the reader; it defies poetic categories, and exists to express the poet's sense of hopelessness and detachment, rather than to communicate an idea to an audience. It does not affect the cosmic order, as reflected in the moon's perspective.