Danielle DeForrest

“Against Mutinous Weather”: Seasons in Plath’s Poetry
“Let idiots/reel giddy in bedlam spring”(Spinster 22-23). Normally in poetry, authors use many different images to portray a certain theme they are trying to convey. Throughout Sylvia Plath’s poetry, she uses the image of seasons to show the differences in her emotions that reflect her own life. In the poems Spinster and Two Sisters of Persephone, weather and seasons are used to reflect Plath’s husband and her view on love.
In the poem Spinster, one of the main themes that Plath is trying to convey is one that is against love, and the season of spring. In this poem, spring is used to represent love, but also chaos and confusion. Plath states, “She judged petals in disarray/ The whole season, sloven”(Spinster 11-12). Here Plath is saying that the season spring, or love, is messy or “sloven”. By using a word like sloven, Plath has a condescending tone when concerning spring. “Let idiots/reel giddy in bedlam spring”(Spinster 22-23). Here Plath uses the word “bedlam”, a word used to portray the image of chaos and mayhem. When Plath puts bedlam together with the season spring, she is painting a picture for the reader to show how she feels about the said season. She also refers to those in love as “idiots”. By using a condescending word like idiot, Plath shows her contempt for society and their spring time rituals. In the poem Two Sisters of Persephone, Plath uses summer to represent her husband. One of the main themes of this poem is that no matter if you fall in love and get married, you will still end up unhappy. Plath states, “Lulled/near a bed of poppies” and “Grass-couched in her labor’s pride/She bears a king. Turned bitter” (Two Sisters of Persephone 15-16, 23-24). In these lines, Plath is stating that no matter if you fall in love and have kids, you will end up “bitter”. Plath uses many summer words and phrases such as “bronzed as earth”(Two Sisters of Persephone 13), “bed of poppies”(Two Sisters of Persephone 16) and “red silk flare”(Two Sisters of Persephone 17). By using terms such as these, Plath emphasizes her point when saying all things end up unhappy. In both of these poems, Plath uses the light seasons of spring and summer to show that they are destructive in her life. However, also in both of these poems, Plath uses winter to display a different kind of emotion that she can relate to.
In the poems Two Sisters of Persephone and Spinster Plath uses the season of winter to show a reflection of herself, and how she often feels about love. In the poem Spinster, Plath states, “How she longed for winter then!” and “And heart’s frosty discipline/exact as a snowflake”(Spinster 13, 17-18). Plath shows that she relates more to winter than spring. In this poem winter is shown as unfeeling and unloved, which Plath prefers over spring and its chaos. She feels sickened by lovesick idiots, and just wants to be alone. “And round her house she set/such a barricade of barb and check/against mutinous weather/as no mere insurgent man could hope to break/with curse, fist or threat/or love, either”(Spinster 25-30). Plath is stating that the “house” she is reclusive in is set with barbed wire, one that no man could ever enter, even with love. She is keeping out feelings of love and emotion, and uses winter to portray this. In the poem Two Sister of Persephone Plath also uses winter to show her unhappiness, and part of the life that she leads. Plath states, “At this barren enterprise”(Two Sister of Persephone 10). Plath uses the word “barren”, which is a word used to describe winter, since it is infertile where nothing grows. Plath also uses words such as “dry”, “sallow” and “dark” (Two Sisters of Persephone 8,25,5) to give the reader a wintery image. In this poem Plath is stating that winter has always been miserable, just like herself. She uses the two sisters to show two sides of herself, the one she shows to the world, and the one she keeps to herself. Plath uses winter as an image for the side she keeps to herself. This reclusive side of her supports the idea that winter is what she inevitably desires over spring and summer.
Seasons and weather are often used to portray the themes of different poems to show the emotions or thoughts of the author. Sylvia Plath uses the seasons of winter and spring to show her two different ideals about love and herself in her poems Spinster and Two Sisters of Persephone. By doing so, the reader can understand more fully about Plath’s life and her outlook on many aspects in her life.

Word Count: 805