Through Emersonian Hermeneutics: Landscapes of the spirit or transcendental in Sylvia Plath's poetry
Criticism rarely portraits Plath as a nature poet, but landscapes occur regularly throughout her work. Her exploration of the relationship between the individual and the natural world is fundamental to the development of her mature voice. This development reveals the continuing influence of the Amer...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Faculty of Philosophy, Kosovska Mitrovica
2013-01-01
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| Series: | Zbornik Radova Filozofskog Fakulteta u Prištini |
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| Online Access: | http://scindeks-clanci.ceon.rs/data/pdf/0354-3293/2013/0354-32931301285M.pdf |
| Summary: | Criticism rarely portraits Plath as a nature poet, but landscapes occur regularly throughout her work. Her exploration of the relationship between the individual and the natural world is fundamental to the development of her mature voice. This development reveals the continuing influence of the American Transcendentalist poet, theologian and philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson, whose beliefs fundamentally shaped the society in which Plath was raised. In his often-quoted essay Nature, the philosopher said: ‘Nature always wears the colors of the spirit’ - expressing his belief in a dynamic interchange between the mood of the perceiver and the mood of nature. Emersonian attitudes permeated and shaped Plath’s vision - as they have permeated so much American poetry and culture - throughout her writing life. More fundamentally, his insistence on integrating the external world - or, in Emersonian terms, ‘the NOT ME’ - into the soul is an ambition which Plath’s poetry shares. This paper shows that not only does the brutal imagery of Plath’s later poetry connect this spiritual pursuit, but the inescapable centrality of the self and its experiences can be traced back to the lasting influence of Emersonian idealism. |
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| ISSN: | 0354-3293 2217-8082 |