Ariel – Sylvia Plath Jennifer Saunders

The Main Themes Power – from a lack of power and control to the opposite Death – Dealing with directly with death and the ways in which the speaker copes with this. Isolation – the ways in which the speaker is isolated in some aspects however not in others

Power “Stasis in Darkness” This has a literal meaning of the horse that the speaker is on patiently waiting in the stable ready to make its voyage however it can also have a metaphorical interpretation to symbolise a baby in the womb waiting to be born. This suggests that in the beginning of the poem the speaker is weak just as a baby would be before birth. This can then be deepened further to suggest that the speaker may need to rely on someone to give her a purpose or even life much like a baby in the womb

Power “God’s Lioness” This line appears slightly later on in the poem when the speaker has begun making her journey on the horse. This could suggest that because the speaker has something to assist her she now feels more in power. Could this be because she is escaping the force that is holding her back when she is not with the horse and escaping from the place that she is in? The quote also has a direct link to the title of the poem. “God’s Lioness” is the translation of “Ariel” in Hebrew. This could have a direct link to Jerusalem which is the city both favoured and cursed by God which could suggest that Plath is in conflict with this power that she has gained – much like in “Arrival of the Bee Box”

Death “The brown arc… that I cannot reach” Although this quote is a literal representation of the horses saddle I believe that it can also be symbolic of heaven. The quote suggests that everything that surrounds the speaker is slightly too far away for her to make a connection which can then suggest that there is no stability for the speaker – this motif is also explored in many of Plaths other poems such as Blackberrying. The speaker seems to have a sense of uncertainty in this section of the poem and it makes the reader also feel this due to the allussiveness of the poem. This quote also makes a direct link to Plaths own life events. It is well-known that Plath attempted to commit suicide a number of times before she manage and this therefore could be a direct reference to these suicide attempts. Although Plath wants to commit suicide and reach this place, possibly heaven, she can never quite manage.

Death “Suicidal” This is a direct link to death, something that Plath does not do very often in her nature poetry. Although at a first glance this appears to be a negative use of the word once studied in more depth it appears that it in fact has positive connotations. Its as if the speaker feels positive that although the “dew” has died the action has allowed for a new life coming from the sun. This could relate to the new person that the speaker has become throughout the duration of the poem or it could also show that the speaker now has light in her life instead of the darkness that has been apparent throughout the poem until now.

Isolation “The child’s cry Melts in the wall” Although the speaker appears to not be isolated due to the amount of nature that appears to surround her this line disproves that idea. It suggests that because the speaker has become so trapped in this new world that she has now entered that she is in fact loosing all sense of the outside world. This therefore shows that the speaker now appears to be completely without human interaction thus making her isolated.