Beware the Plath copycats

Guardian

If generations of gloomy boys could pretend they were the next TS Eliot, then there have been plenty of gloomy girls who have their very own role model in Plath. And a very powerful role model: unlike Eliot, she succeeded in killing herself. Cue thousands of lines of self-pitying poetry without the command and talent of Plath’s.

I regularly introduce poetry to freshman English majors. Some who write angsty poetry as a form of literary self-therapy are surprised to learn that there’s a difference between the “I” who speaks in the poem (through a fictional character), and the identity of the poet who created the fictional character in order to achieve some artistic effect in the mind of the reader (rather than to achieve a verbal exorcism of personal demons).

Share
Published by
Dennis G. Jerz

Recent Posts

Another corner building. Designed and textured. Needs an interior. #blender3d #design #aesthetics #medievalyork #mysteryplay

Another corner building. Designed and textured. Needs an interior. #blender3d #design #aesthetics #medievalyork #mysteryplay

19 hours ago

There’s No Longer Any Doubt That Hollywood Writing Is Powering AI

Two years after the release of ChatGPT, it may not be surprising that creative work…

3 days ago

The complex geometry on this wedge building took me all weekend.  #blender3d #medievalyork #mysteryplay #cgi #aesthetics #design

The complex geometry on this wedge building took me all weekend. The interior walls still…

5 days ago

Sesame Street had a big plot twist in November 1986

My older siblings say they remember our mother sitting them down to watch a new…

6 days ago