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Critical Analysis Of 'Lady Lazarus' By Sylvia Plath

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The “Lady Lazarus” by Sylvia Plath is about a woman who is about to commit suicide. She claims that the rebirth is a failure but the act of dying is an art. The title “Lady Lazarus” came from the figure Lazarus from the Bible. The story of Lazarus is a miracle of Jesus in which Jesus brings Lazarus back to life four days after his burial.
The poem is commonly interpreted as an expression of the author’s suicidal attempts and impulses. Even though Sylvia Plath was successful in her family and career, she still suffered from depression in her entire life. Having several failed suicide attempts, Sylvia Plath passed away after committing her third suicidal attempt by inhaling carbon monoxide from the oven.
Sylvia Plath shows us what is in the head of a person who is in pain. The persona first compares herself to a “Nazi Lampshade” and a “Jew linen.” Like what Adolf Hitler did to the Jews, she too felt like being slaughtered leading her to end her life. Suicide is not a new thing for the persona in the poem for she said that she “has done it again.” In fact, she claims …show more content…

Comparing the persona’s problems to those of the murdered Jews is a legitimate, super intense and dark, way for Lady Lazarus to express her feelings. Lady Lazarus compares herself to Jewish victims of the Nazis. Plath vividly paints picture using phrases that emphasize the sadness of the poem like “skin as bright as Nazi lampshade”, “My face a featureless, fine Jew linen”, “sour breath” and much more. Thus, there are also holocaust-related components, for example, the use of German terms, "Herr" and "Doktor," which signify "sir" and "doctor" separately, which makes it feel like a murder is happening right in front of you. When addressing the 'Nazi Doktor, ' which turns out to be the enemy from the beginning of the poem, refers to the doctors in general who keep reviving Sylvia after each fruitless attempt of taking her

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