Introduction
Both Sylvia Plath and Carol Ann Duffy are poets who broke new ground in contemporary world poetry. Their contribution to dramatic poetry, especially the confessional one, is truly immeasurable. Their works cover both fundamental topics such as life love, life goals, the value of life and its meaning, and very personal, even intimate, ones such as suicide, sex, and female virginity. “Lady Lazarus” and “Little Red-Cap” to be examined here belong to the second category. Although these poems have radically different plots, their authors use a persona, enjambment, oxymoron, metaphors, and references to religion and folklore to achieve the same goal, namely to share personal experiences and fears with readers.
The Use of Persona
Persona in Plath’s “Lady Lazarus”
“Lady Lazarus” is a story of one’s suicide attempts written in the form of a dramatic monologue. The unknown protagonist shares with the audience their thoughts about their life path, previous attempts to kill themselves, and the upcoming one (Plath, 2018). Since the poem is a monologue about a very personal topic, namely suicide, which also intersects with the theme of mental disorders, it can be safely said that this work by Plath belongs to the genre of confessional poetry. According to Abbas (2019), “confessional poets reflect on subjects such as mental and physical illness, domestic breakdown, and sometimes about sexual dissatisfaction or frustration” (p. 3).
The researcher also notes that confessional poems are conceptually very close to the religious ritual they partially originated from (Abbas, 2019). Therefore, one can say that “Lady Lazarus” is Plath’s attempt to confess to readers her attempts at suicide, which is a sin in many world religions. Here she uses the persona not to distance herself from the audience but to get closer to them to share her personal experiences and fears.
Persona in Duffy’s “Little Red Cap”
The persona function in “Little Red-Cap” is similar to that in “Lady Lazarus.” The female protagonist rapidly fell in love with a wolf, spent a 10-years with him, and then killed him because of a dull and repetitive lifestyle with zero life prospects (Duffy, 1999). Therefore, this Duffy’s work is also a confessional poem because its main themes are sex and relationships. Lines such as “I clung till dawn to his thrashing fur, for what little girl doesn’t dearly love a wolf?” clearly indicate it (Duffy, 1999, p. 3, Lns 21-22). The writer uses the persona to discuss her personal experiences and create an emotional connection with those reading the poem. As one can see, both authors resort to persona to create an original, Victorian effect in the audience’s minds (Hurley & O’Neill, 2012). By doing so, they effectively transfer their intended emotions and thoughts and convince readers that the experiences they describe are real.
Enjambment and Oxymoron
Both Plath and Duffy use literary devices such as enjambment and oxymoron. Enjambment is used to create a shocking effect that heightens the overall intended emotional impact on readers. “Dying is an art, like everything else” and “I do it exceptionally well” are clear examples of it (Plath, 2018, p. 1919, Lns 43-45). Other ones are “I took an axe to a willow to see how it wept” and “I took an axe to a salmon to see how it leapt” (Duffy, 1999, p. 4, Lns 37-39). Oxymoron is used to convey the protagonists’ emotional complexity and explain the paradoxical nature of the situations described. The protagonist of “Lady Lazarus” wants to end her life, but every previous attempt has been suffering for her (Plath, 2018). This is why she calls the audience both a doctor and an enemy.
In “Little Red-Cap,” the entire plot is an oxymoron. A young girl first falls passionately in love with an animal and then kills it due to a decade of monotony and lack of feelings (Duffy, 1999). It is also noteworthy to note that the story contradicts the original French tale to which it refers. Oxymoron in Duffy’s work is present at the Meta level.
Metaphors and References
Metaphors can be found in all literary genres, and confessional poems are no exception. Plath and Duffy use them not only to show their writing skills but also to convey their experienced emotions and situations accurately. For example, “I rocked shut as a sea shell” describes her strong determination to kill herself during her second suicide attempt (Plath, 2018, p. 1919, Lns 39-40). References to Christian mythological figures and Western folklore are used to explain the personal thoughts and ideas of poets in simple terms.
Conclusion
In this paper, “Lady Lazarus” by Sylvia Plath and “Little Red-Cap” by Carol Ann Duffy was analyzed. It is worth noting that both authors are excellent representatives of the confessional poem and verse drama. It has been explored in detail how both poets use the literary device of persona. It was discovered that they resort to it to achieve a direct emotional connection with persons reading their poems. The presence of enjambment, oxymoron, metaphors, and references was also explained.
References
Abbas, S. Z. (2019). Sylvia Plath, the well-bred malaise, and its confession in “Daddy.”Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities, 11(3), 1-20. Web.
Duffy, C. A. (1999). The world’s wife. Picador.
Hurley, M. D., & O’Neill, M. (2012). Poetic form: An introduction. Cambridge University Press.
Plath, S. (2018). Lady Lazarus. In M. Ferguson et al. (Eds.), The Norton anthology of poetry (6th ed, pp. 1918-1920). W. W. Norton & Co.