Rachel Kim

“Leaves’ Litter”: Sylvia Plath’s Use of Season and Weather Imagery

Love and men: the notorious capturers of Sylvia Plath’s independence. Throughout Plath's poems, she argued that women should be independent from the reigns of men in the male dominated society that she lived in. This theme of feminism presides to be the most prevalent throughout her poems and is enhanced by her use of season and weather imagery. In “Spinster” and “Wintering,” these images show Sylvia Plath’s feministic views by her degradation of men and love.

“Spinster” was written about a woman who realizes the imperfections and backstabbing qualities of her suitor. This poem progresses rapidly from love to independence. The thought that this woman was in love lasted for only three lines in her poem and continued with an epiphany. Plath explains the thoughts of this woman as her own by incorporating images of seasons and weather. This warm weather during the spring season was a time for foolish lovers. “She judged petals in disarray, / The whole season, sloven” (“Spinster” 11-12). When she describes the sentiments of the women in the poem, she is describing what the woman sees in this man that she “loved.” Thus, this woman looked at the man in “disarray” and describes him as “sloven.” Plath’s diction is important in the sense that she deliberately insulting this man therefore enhancing her theme of feminism. Furthermore, she describes the yearning of the woman for winter, a time of precision and a time when a woman has control over her life. “And heart’s frosty discipline / Exact as a snowflake” (“Spinster” 17-18). Although many women want men, the winter disciplines them and allows them to stay in control and direct their own lives. This imagery of seasons displays Plath’s hatred towards men and favor of the ideas of independent women.

“Wintering” was written after the divorce with her husband. Her transition into independence is shown with the weather and season imagery which differentiates the progression of “Wintering to the progression in “Spinster”. Throughout “Wintering,” Plath describes the independence of a woman after the separation of a male figure. Although the progression of the poem differs, the representation that the imagery of seasons and weather holds are very similar. “Wintering in a dark without window” (“Wintering” 6). “No light / but the torch is faint” (14-15). This part of the poem describes the beginning of her independence. This torch she refers to is the only source of guidance that she has into her new life. She lacks the confidence and self esteem without her husband. However, the cold weather of the winter allows her to stay awake and focused. As the poem progresses, the negative tone towards the warm weather appears. “Into which, on warm days, / They carry their dead” (“Wintering” 36-37). “Winter is for women” (42). When she refers to the warm temperature and the dead, the “dead” refers to the powerless women that are manipulated by these men. Hence, she reinforces the significance of winter for women.

The two poems are very similar with their paralleling themes of feminism. However, the use of seasons and weather images are used in different ways because of the differences in progression. In both poems, spring is utilized to show the season of foolish loves. Winter is a season in which women can direct their own lives with precision and control. As a source of taking away the pain Plath felt from her husband and her father, she wrote poetry. Because of the unreliability that she felt with men, she welcomes the precision and harshness of the cold weather of winter rather than warm weathered spring which makes women yearn for love.