1. Munich mannequins, edge and words
p. 69, 80 and 81

2. The munich mannequins, p. 69
Munich (Germany) is stereotypically a cold city. The poem may be about Plath’s Winter visit to the city. What does the title suggest about the subject and tone of the poem? Where have we seen similar ideas in other poems?

3. The munich mannequins, p. 69
The damning first line summarises much of the poem’s meaning.
What do you think it suggests?
The munich mannequins, p. 69
‘Perfection is terrible’
What sort of tone is created in this first statement? How is language and structure used to create this tone?

4. Now read the whole poem and find examples of the following ideas
Now read the whole poem and find examples of the following ideas. How are they used?
Coldness (particularly as a metaphor)
Remember to analyse each quotation you choose.
The falsity or performativity of ‘perfect’ female figures
Fertility and maternity
A sense that perfection leads to loneliness

5. The last stanza ‘Voicelessness. The snow has no voice.’
How does Plath summarise her ideas about society’s treatment and expectations of women in this last stanza?

6. Edge, p. 80
What do you make of this title? From knowledge of Plath’s poetry so far, what might ‘edge’ refer to?

7. ‘The woman is perfected’
Where has you seen this idea before?
How might the woman have been ‘perfected’?
The first line
‘The woman is perfected’
What effect is created by calling the subject ‘the woman’?

8. Example: ‘Her dead body wears the smile of accomplishment.’
Contrast in the poem
The poem is about a dead woman (she has probably committed suicide).
However, Plath describes her as ‘perfected’ in death.
Therefore the poem is full of ambiguities and contrasts: images in which the boundaries between the grotesque and the beautiful/ideal are blurred.
What examples of this can you find?
Example: ‘Her dead body wears the smile of accomplishment.’

9. Recurring themes in the identity/ women poems:
What themes recur in poems like ‘The Applicant,’ ‘The Munich Mannequins,’ ‘Edge,’ ‘Ariel’ and ‘Lady Lazarus.’
How does Plath make suggestions about identity (the speaker’s identity or the identity of women in the 1950s and ’60s)?

10. homework
Choose either: ‘Paralytic,’ ‘Fever 103,’ ‘Getting there’ or ‘You’re’ and annotate, considering how identity is presented in the poem.
Be prepared to share your findings next lesson.