Woman's Role As A Virgin example essay topic

This poem was written in 1958, after Sylvia Plath left her job at Smith College to write for a living. It was during this time she found writing extremely difficult and resorted to set themes and deliberate exercises in style, in her efforts to find a release. The poem is based on a drawing 'The Virgin in a Tree' by Paul Klee. Sylvia Plath expresses her feelings about the concept of virginity, virgins etc. She holds their morals and values accountable, for what they believe to be right and what they believe to be wrong. Sylvia Plath uses great many mythical allusions to illustrate her perceptions about virgins, especially in Ancient Greek mythology, many of which have been a direct bearing on the title of the poem; 'Virgin in a Tree'.

The first most obvious allusion is that of Daphne. 'Ever since that first Daphne Switched her incomparable back For a bay-tree hide,' In Greek mythology Daphne was a nymph, the daughter of the river god Peneus. She was a hunter who dedicated herself to Artemis, goddess of the hunt, and, like the goddess, refused to marry. The god Apollo fell in love with Daphne, and when she refused his advances, he pursued her through the woods. She prayed to her father for help, and as Apollo advanced upon her, she was changed into a laurel tree (Daphne in Greek). Grief-stricken at her transformation, Apollo made the laurel his sacred tree.

With reference to Apollo made in the phrase; 'god-haloed'. The other phrase 'goat thigh ed', may signify Philoctetes (Trainer of the heroes) or Pan (god of the woods). It is most obviously Pan, with evidence in future reference in the fourth stanza. Pan, in Greek mythology, was the god of woods, fields, and fertility, the son of Hermes, messenger of the gods, and a nymph. Part animal, with the horns, hoofs, and ears of a goat, he was a lusty deity, the god of the shepherds and the goatherds. A wonderful musician, he accompanied, with his pipe of reeds, the woodland nymphs when they danced.

He invented this pipe when the nymph Syrinx, whom he was pursuing, objected to his advances and was transformed into a bed of reeds, enabling her to escape him. 'Celebrate Syrinx whose demurs Won her the frog coloured skin, pale pith and watery Bed of a reed. ' Pan then took reeds of unequal length and played on them. The god was always wooing one of the nymphs by playing on his pipes, but was always rejected because of his ugliness. ' Pine-needle armour protectsPitys from Pan's assault!' Pan's haunts were the mountains and caves and all wild places, but his favourite spot was Arcadia, where he was born. The word panic is supposed to have been derived from the fears of travellers who heard the sound of his pipes at night in the wilderness.

Another diverging route of mythology, which Plath employs, is the opposing story of mythical (or historical) women, who were very different from the virgin nymphs. Included are Eva, Cleo and Helen of Troy. Helen of Troy, being the most prominent among the three mentioned above in, Greek mythology, was the most beautiful woman in Greece. She was the daughter of the god Zeus and of Leda, wife of King Tyndareus of Sparta. When a child, she was abducted by the hero Theseus, who hoped in time to marry her, but she was rescued by her brothers, Castor and Pollux. Later, her fatal beauty was the direct cause of the Trojan War.

A not so obvious allusion could be that of the cupid 'Eros', which is entertained in;' And put on bark's nun-black Habit which deflects All amorous arrows. ' Plath believes that Eva, Cleo and Helen of Troy are different from Daphne and Syrinx, in the sense that neither Eva, Cleo or Helen would speak;' For a fashion that constricts White bodies in a wooden girdle,' And this is where Plath's main point comes in; her stance on virginity is against the very puritanical foundations that virginity seems to stand for. She thinks that virginity is such a stage upon which a woman becomes featureless, insignificant and incomplete. Her nature is no longer to rear and nurture, she becomes dormant, useless, only to nurture the darkness that envelops her at this point. ' root to topUnfaced, unformed, the nipple flowers Shrouded to suckle darkness?' Part of this, she believes, is in the belief of others that virginity is a sign of purity and holiness; for it is only them that talk tediously in the praise of; 'virgins for virginity's sake.

' This is also a significant image in her poem, the religious images that are supposedly to symbolize holiness and purity are employed by Plath as a means of mockery; 'And put on barks nun-black habit which deflects'Who keep cool and holy make sanctum to attract Green virgins, consecrating limb and lip To chastity's service: like prophets, like preachers,' In Plath's point of view, the reason virginity is given the meaning it is today, is due to the fact that virginity is declared sacred and pledged to sexual abstinence in the name of all that is holy. This underlines her faith in a woman's role as a partner in marriage, as a wife, mother, daughter especially in a family. She thinks that virginity does not deserve the fame and glory it has, in fact it will ultimately lead to the spoil of a woman's soul, how the essence will be destroyed if they are kept prisoners and constricted. 'She, ripe and un plucked, 'sLain splayed too long in the tortuous boughs: overripe Now, dour faced,' 'Askew, she " ll ache and wake Though doomsday bud.

Neglect " 's Given her lips that lemon tasting droop: Un tongued, all beauty's bright juice sours. Tree-twist will ape this gross anatomy Till irony's bough break. ' It is through; 'tortuous boughs', that we realize that the trees and branches are but the grips of false morality and value judgement's of society concerning virginity, it is them who imprison a woman within the confines of being a virgin, under the false pretenses of purity. She further defines this by introducing images of rigidity and hardness, which symbolizes the souls and heart of the virgin martyrs. ' In a scabbard of wood baffles pursuers,' 'Twined to her hard limbs like ivy: the puritan lip'Pine-needle armor protects'White bodies in a wooden girdle, root to top'Her fingers Stiff as twigs, her body woodenly Askew' Her tone throughout is very indignant, severe and at times mocking. ' How this tart fable instructs And mocks!

Here's the parody of that moral mousetrap'They descant on the serene and seraphic beauty Of virgins for virginity's sake. ' 'Be certain some such pact " been struck to keep all glory in the grip Of ugly spinsters and barren sirs " Plath also makes use of faint colour imagery here and there, to strengthen her ideas and give support to her literary prowess. 'White bodies' use of the colour white may signify coldness of the virgins, or their supposed purity. 'Bark's nun-black habit' the colour black may point to the restricted, non-reproachable characteristics, while the colour green ('Green virgins') indicates inexperience. This poem is in many ways a social commentary, by Sylvia Plath, on the dilemmas modern society is faced with. Especially concerning roles of women as nurturers, mothers, wives and daughters.

As well as their role in being virgins. Sylvia Plath definitely does not believe strongly in woman's role as a virgin, whether it be for purity or chastity's sake.