‘Quests and Challenges’, analysing Ariel by Sylvia Plath
The influential American scholar, Joseph Campbell, maintains that much storytelling in mythology involves a hero on a quest, whose growth through adversity, enables them to succeed in reaching their goal. This ritual of descent and return reminds us of the cycle of life and death, a deep universal impulse that resonates within us all. This essay will analyse how the poem ‘Ariel’ by Sylvia Plath tells the story of a protagonist on a quest with challenges to navigate. In ‘Ariel’ the speaker journeys into the unknown, descends into chaos seeking freedom from patriarchal oppression, and returns to reclaim her feminine identity. The progression of this journey is developed by Plath’s innovative use of literary devices. The essay will look at, ‘What is Poetry’ by Eagleton to expand on the meaning and relevance of Plath’s literary choices. The protagonist overcomes challenges, succeeds in her quest, and in so doing demonstrates the value of the pursuit for freedom.
Ariel
BY SYLVIA PLATH
Stasis in darkness.
Then the substanceless blue
Pour of tor and distances.
God’s lioness,
How one we grow,
Pivot of heels and knees! — The furrow
Splits and passes, sister to
The brown arc
Of the neck I cannot catch,
Nigger-eye
Berries cast dark
Hooks —
Black sweet blood mouthfuls,
Shadows.
Something else
Hauls me through air —
Thighs, hair;
Flakes from my heels.
White
Godiva, I unpeel —
Dead hands, dead stringencies.
And now I
Foam to wheat, a glitter of seas.
The child’s cry
Melts in the wall.
And I
Am the arrow,
The dew that flies
Suicidal, at one with the drive
Into the red
Eye, the cauldron of morning
Sylvia Plath, who was plagued by mental health problems, wrote confessional poetry. In the poem ‘Ariel’, Plath transforms the everyday rural activity of horse-riding into a confronting physical and emotional journey of conflicting feelings and visuals. The poem was written on Plath’s thirtieth birthday in 1962 after the breakdown of her marriage and shortly before her suicide. Plath, a young mother of two, was living in the English countryside at the time and owned a horse named Ariel. Details of Plath’s personal life provide the poem with some context and may account for its urgent and emotional intensity.
In ‘Ariel’, the protagonist or speaker is on a quest for freedom from oppressive male domination. The quest is accomplished by reclaiming her feminine identity. Plath’s intention to place the speaker as feminine is achieved by using the words ‘lioness’ and ‘sister’. The journey starts in stillness, but the pace soon quickens. A somber and oppressive tone prevails with the use of the words ‘nigger eye’, ‘blood’, and ‘shadows’. As the poem reaches halfway, a threshold is crossed, and the speaker is propelled forward. A reference to the legendry Lady Godiva (a woman who cast off her clothes and rode her horse naked as a protest against oppressive taxes enforced by her husband), points to the need of being rid of patriarchal restraints, ‘I unpeel dead hands, dead stringencies’. As the speaker sheds her restrictions, momentum increases, and she becomes central to the journey, ‘And now I’. Letting go of all other identities forced on her, including motherhood, ‘the child’s cry melts into the wall’ she reclaims her identity as a woman. The quest nears completion as the speaker, released from oppression, flies free. The poem climaxes with the words, ‘at one with the drive Into the red Eye’. The protagonist completes the quest. Liberated and now utterly free, she careers upwards towards the sun.
Plath’s skillful use of literary device elevates ‘Ariel’, opening it up to countless possibilities for meaning and interpretation. Poetry, according to Eagleton, can mean anything we interpret it to mean. Released from the more empirical forms of writing, poetry, states Eagleton, is permitted to be inventive, ‘Poetry allows for these quick shifts of imaginative logic, in which language works more by compression and association than by fully spelled-out connections’. Eagleton’s point is successfully illustrated by Plath’s adept use of literary devices. The form the poem takes with its short lines of verse and skillful use of enjambment, add to the fast-paced rhythm, likening the text to a wild horse ride. Allegory and symbolism are also used throughout the poem. The title ‘Ariel’ is not only the name of Plath’s horse but symbolises a dialogue between body and soul as it references the ethereal spirit in The Tempest by William Shakespeare. Additionally, the word ‘Ariel’ means lion of God in Hebrew, which Plath refers to in the second stanza ‘God’s lioness’. Lady Godiva (as mentioned previously), is another symbolic clue that adds to the overarching metaphor. These clues clarify the author’s intention of comparing the content of the poem, a thrilling horse ride at dawn, to a turbulent inward journey of self-discovery on a quest for freedom from oppression.
‘Ariel’ and other texts that incorporate quests for freedom, resonate with us as they touch on universal values. We recognise as Campbell points out, that a common trait in all humans is to be in endless pursuit, be it for happiness, peace, adventure, love, or freedom. We acknowledge that in facing challenges, we must die to ourselves to experience a rebirth. This is the narrative of the quest in Plath’s poem. ‘Ariel’ takes us on a whirlwind ride with the speaker in search of freedom through self-identity. She conquers the challenges, emerges from under the shadow of patriarchy, and surfaces as a woman ready to reclaim herself. This quest for freedom is a recognisable story that resonates with many.
Reference list
Breslin, P 2001 ‘Demythologizing Sylvia Plath’, Modernism/Modernity, 8(4), pp. 675–679. doi: 10.1353/mod.2001.0078. Campbell, J 1949, The Hero with a Thousand Face New World Library, California
Eagleton, T 2007, Chapter 2 ‘What is Poetry?’ How to Read a Poem, Blackwell, London Melbourne New York, pp. 25–47.Plath, S 1965, Ariel Harper & Row, New York, Wagner-Martin, L 1999 Sylvia Plath a Literary Life Macmillan Press, Basingstoke Hampshire
