Women Issues in Plath and Rich Poems

Women Issues in Plath and Rich Poems

Compare how Sylvia Plath and Adrienne Rich address issues facing women in mid twentieth century America in their respective poetry.

-Sylvia Plath, “Morning Song,” p. 1444;

-Adrienne Rich, “Snapshots of a Daughter-in-Law,” p. 1416;

Sylvia Plath and Adrienne Rich adopt totally different tones in their poems though they both explain the plight of women in the mid-twentieth century. Rich’s poem “Snapshots of a Daughter-in-law” is very pungent and explores various aspects of the life of a woman. Plath’s poem, “Morning Song,” on the other hand, is limited to a single facet of life. Plath attracts the audience’s attention to the demanding nature of motherhood and how it affects the life of a woman. Rich, on the other hand, denounces the sorrows inflicted on a woman by male exploitation. A woman has to work continuously in her husband’s house, sacrifice her ambitions, and forgo her independence. Rich also adopts a revolutionary tone encouraging women to fight for their rights, an aspect that is missing in Plath’s work.Order Now from Course ResearchersBoth Rich and Plath explain the struggles that a woman must go in order to be considered complete by the society. According to the two poems, a woman has to adjust constantly to meet the needs of those around her. In Plath’s poem, a woman must learn to develop maternal instincts upon the birth of a child. She has to adjust her schedule and respond appropriately to the baby’s needs, “One cry, and I stumble from bed, cow-heavy…” (Plath 13). The title in Rich’s poem suggests the loss of identity of a woman once she gets married.

Works Cited

Plath, Sylvia. Morning Song. n.d. 4 May 2020. <https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/49008/morning-song-56d22ab4a0cee>.

Rich, Adrienne. Snapshots of Daughter-in-law. n.d. 4 May 2020. <https://genius.com/Adrienne-rich-snapshots-of-a-daughter-in-law-annotated>.