Lady Lazarus: An Insight into the Suicidality of Sylvia Plath

Sylvia Plath (1932-1963) was an American author and poet, perhaps best known for her semi-autobiographical novel The Bell Jar. Her poetical oeuvre was filled with challenging themes of suicidality, mental illness, and a budding feminism, particularly in the poems composed toward the end of her tragically short life. One of these poems, “Lady Lazarus,” pushes the bounds of expectation and, some would say, propriety. This short reflective Poet’s Pen focuses on Sylvia Plath and the many themes—feminism, suicidality, self-rebirth—for which she would later be known. The poem itself is a melting pot of imagery, drawing themes from the Judeo-Christian perspective, cycles of death and rebirth, and the mythology of the phoenix rising from the ashes.