Sylvia Plath: The Poetry of Initiation

The author shows how Plaths remarkable lyric dramas define a private ritual process. The book deals with the emotional material from which Plaths poetry arises and the specific ritual transformations she dramatizes. It covers all phases of Plaths poetry, closely following the development of image and idea from the apprentice work through the last lyrics of Ariel. The critical method stays close to the language of the poems and defines Plaths struggle toward maturity.

Originally published in 1979.

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