Coral Page Abbott

The Dark Side: Plath’s Use of Dark and Light Imagery
“Daylong a duet of shade and light/ Plays between these.” (Two Sisters 3-4). Thus ends the first stanza of Sylvia Plath’s poem “Two Sisters of Persephone”. Plath’s life was full of light and dark, conflicting feelings and ideas. This particular image- of shadow and sunshine, light and dark, white and black- shows up often in her poetry. Two of the most notable poems that use this imagery are “Two Sisters of Persephone” and “Wintering”. In “Two Sisters of Persephone” and “Wintering”, Plath uses light and dark to contrast fearful images with lighter, happier images that also have a malevolent side to them.
Darkness imagery is used in both poems to show fearful or disgusting things. She writes, “Black asininity. Decay. / Possession. / It is they who own me.” (17-19). Plath is obviously afraid of these objects, she does not want them to own her, but she also notes that the personified objects of darkness are “Neither cruel nor indifferent, only ignorant.” (Wintering 20-21). She realizes it is not their fault, but she is still owned mentally by this darkness. In Plath’s life, she suffered from difficult situations. The death of her father impacted her greatly, and influenced some of her better-known poems. She is more likely referring to the mental illness that she suffered from when saying “Black asininity.” Because “asinine” basically means “stupid” or “idiotic” and “black” when used in this way is sometimes used when talking about temper (i.e. “he was in a black mood and because of that, threw a chair at the wall.”) or depression (“back to black”). Plath was most likely referring to her bipolar episodes she experienced throughout her twenties, which were upsetting to her obviously. So saying that black asininity owns her and shows her inability to escape her mental illness. Another time Plath uses darkness is when she writes “In her dark wainscoted room/ The first works problems on/ A mathematical machine. Dry ticks mark time.” (Two Sisters 5-7). In this instance, darkness is shown in a negative light. It is used in association with math, an obviously unappealing subject, and gives this part a hermit-like feel. The situation is slow and sinister, “dry ticks mark time” means time is going slowly; second by second in the little room. There is a grim feeling, as if the room is inescapable. The room is wainscoted, or paneled with dark wood, almost like a cage with no opening. This shows a dislike for the virgin sisters way of life in “Two Sisters of Persephone” and how her life is actually very sad. The last quote where Plath shows the idea of darkness being sinister is “Black/ Mind against all that white.” (Wintering 32-33). This shows an evil in the bees discussed in the poem. They are sadness and fear against the background of a happy thing. In this case, Sylvia is referencing herself yet again. The bee’s evil is her mental illness. The “black mind” is her own, a black spot in a happy world. It shows her mental darkness affecting her, yet she is able to discuss it without being too concerned. In both poems, physical darkness is used to symbolize mental darkness.
Plath uses light in her poems to show things as perfect or beautiful, yet they always have a more sinister side. She wrote, “The smile of the snow is white/ It spreads itself out, a mile-long body of Meissen.” (Wintering 33-35). The white snow is perfect, and beautiful. It is smiling and kind. Meissen is a type of plaster, which is smooth and neat, and can cover everything up. However, snow is cold and potentially harmful to the bees. They “can only carry their dead” into the snow on warm days. The bees are not happy in snow, because it can kill them. Plaster may cover things up, but it is false and deceiving, like the snow to the bees. In “Two Sisters of Persephone”, Plath wrote that the outdoor sister “burns open to the suns blade”. This is in reference to sex, an experience that is generally meant to be pleasant so that people will reproduce. The sun is the brightest light there is, yet in this poem the sun is personified as a husband who seems to be raping his wife and attacking her with a “blade”. The sun provides life, yet in this instance the woman is being burned open by the sun. This use of oxymoron in reference to marriage shows Plath’s dislike for marriage. In both poems, light is used to portray things that are supposed to be good but turn out to actually be very negative.
Plath’s use of light and darkness in her poems is very important because it gives a whole new level to Plath’s poetry. The imagery gives “Two Sisters of Persephone” and “Wintering” an entirely new meaning. Plath’s use of imagery in general in her poems is sometimes subtle, or not originally seen as significant. However, once these images are acknowledged, we can better understand her work.