Overview of the Collection (AQA A-Level English Literature A): Revision Notes
Overview of the collection
Understanding Ariel through Birthday Letters
When studying Sylvia Plath's Ariel collection, it's valuable to understand the wider literary context and responses to her work. Ted Hughes' Birthday Letters, published in 1998, directly responds to Plath's poetry and life, offering important contextual insight into the themes and emotional landscape of Ariel.
Birthday Letters was published 35 years after Plath's death and represents Hughes' first major public response to their relationship and her work. Understanding this temporal distance is crucial for appreciating the reflective nature of his responses.
Life After Death: a response to Plath's legacy
Ted Hughes wrote "Life After Death" as one of the concluding poems in his Birthday Letters collection. This poem responds directly to the aftermath of Plath's February 1963 suicide, addressing her presence as a haunting figure whilst depicting the immediate impact on their orphaned children. Hughes blends paternal tenderness with mythic elements, creating a powerful meditation on absence and grief.
The poem explores what happened in the wake of Plath's death, confronting the raw reality of maternal absence through the experiences of their children and Hughes' own devastation. Understanding this response helps us appreciate the intensity and prophetic quality of Plath's own work in Ariel.
Structure of Life After Death
Hughes structures the poem around a day-night division, which creates a powerful sense of time both standing still and moving inevitably forward. During the day, we hear the children's cries and witness Hughes in his hanged-man stupor, unable to function properly. At night, the failed attempts at sleep are accompanied by the wolves' dirge and the numb February snow that blankets everything.
The structural division between day and night serves multiple functions:
- Creates a temporal framework that mirrors the cyclical nature of grief
- Emphasizes the relentless passage of time despite emotional paralysis
- Contrasts the visible chaos of daytime with the haunting stillness of night
The poem reduces the family to infants existing in separate cots, emphasising their isolation and vulnerability. Written with the benefit of hindsight, Hughes attempts to make sense of Plath's death whilst questioning whether the children can truly comprehend their loss. The structure mirrors the fragmentation of the family unit itself.
Key themes connecting to Ariel
Grief and maternal void
The infant son's wails echo throughout the poem, and Hughes notes how the baby has 'so perfectly your eyes' - connecting the child eternally to Plath. The daughter's unknowing growth underscores how life continues despite irreversible rupture. The wolves that appear symbolise either primal mourning or Plath's lingering spirit, unable to rest. These themes of absence and haunting presence resonate strongly with the visceral emotional landscape found in Ariel's poems.
Guilt and shared helplessness
Hughes draws parallels between his own paternal failure and the babies' powerlessness. His self-accusation - feeling 'strung up in our high chair / Like a hanged man' - reveals his sense of complicity in the household's collapse. This guilt and the question of responsibility echo through both Birthday Letters and readings of Ariel, particularly when considering poems that address their relationship.
The metaphor of the hanged man is crucial for understanding Hughes' emotional state:
- It suggests paralysis and inability to act
- Connects to feelings of guilt and punishment
- Creates a striking visual image of suspended helplessness
- Transforms the domestic high chair into an instrument of torture
Life persisting amid death
The snow-numbed world mirrors emotional paralysis, yet the night's howls affirm Plath's haunting presence. This blending of desolation with mythic continuity suggests that whilst physical death has occurred, some essential presence remains. This connects to how Ariel itself deals with themes of transformation, death and rebirth.
Legacy for the children
Hughes directly addresses Plath regarding their children's orphanhood, probing whether they can grasp the reality that 'you are dead' amidst her cultural presence as a literary figure. This question of legacy - both personal and artistic - is crucial for understanding Ariel's publication history and ongoing significance.
Form and technique
Hughes employs free verse tercets which evoke the fragmented family structure. The irregular lines mimic the rhythm of cries and emotional disruption. His direct use of 'you' creates an epistolary intimacy, as though writing a letter to Plath herself. The enjambment flows like draining life or encroaching snow, never quite settling.
The tercet form (three-line stanzas) is significant:
- Three members of the family unit (Hughes and two children) reduced to isolated individuals
- Creates visual fragmentation on the page that mirrors emotional fragmentation
- The irregular line lengths prevent any sense of comfort or stability
The day-night progression builds towards a brutal close that questions endurance and acceptance. This structural movement reflects the impossible task of coming to terms with loss.
Literary techniques worth noting
Hughes uses vivid sensory imagery throughout - the son's 'anger and tears' parallel Plath's own emotional intensity. The wolves that 'howl for you' fuse animal instinct with human loss, creating a mythic dimension to grief.
His metaphors are particularly striking: Hughes as a 'hanged man', snow 'sluiced' like blood, the domestic high chair twisted into gallows. These images heighten the surreal horror of the situation.
Worked Example: Analyzing the "Hanged Man" Metaphor
Step 1: Identify the metaphor Hughes describes himself as "strung up in our high chair / Like a hanged man"
Step 2: Analyze the literal elements
- A high chair is a domestic object associated with feeding infants
- A hanged man suggests execution, punishment, and death
- "Strung up" implies being suspended helplessly
Step 3: Interpret the comparison The metaphor achieves multiple effects:
- Transforms the everyday domestic space into a site of horror
- Suggests Hughes' complete inability to function or help his children
- Implies feelings of guilt and self-punishment
- Creates a visceral image of paralysis and helplessness
Step 4: Connect to broader themes This metaphor reinforces the poem's exploration of guilt, powerlessness, and the transformation of the domestic space into a site of trauma following Plath's death.
Repetition and sound patterns build intensity - cries 'insistence' through phrases like 'cried and cried', whilst the wolves' howl creates an incantatory quality. The assonance in 'cold February' and 'numb snow' evokes a chilling numbness that pervades the entire scene.
Connections to Ariel for comparative study
When studying Ariel, Birthday Letters provides valuable context for understanding:
- The biographical circumstances surrounding Plath's final poems
- Different perspectives on the same events and relationships
- How Plath's work was received and responded to by those closest to her
- Themes of guilt, legacy and haunting presence from multiple viewpoints
Comparing poems like 'The Shot' from Ariel (with its violence and accusation) to Hughes' responses in Birthday Letters reveals the complexity of their relationship and its literary aftermath. The intertextual dialogue between the two collections enriches our understanding of both poets' work.
Exam tips
Key Points for Exam Success:
- When analysing Ariel, consider how awareness of Hughes' later response might inform your reading of Plath's poems
- Use comparative analysis to explore different perspectives on similar themes
- Be aware of biographical context but focus primarily on the poetry itself
- Consider how both collections deal with voice, address and audience
- Think about legacy - both personal and literary - as a connecting theme
Remember!
Key Points to Remember:
- Birthday Letters represents Ted Hughes' response to Plath's death and poetry, written 35 years after her suicide
- Understanding Hughes' perspective provides valuable context for studying Ariel, though the collections should be analysed independently
- Key themes include grief, guilt, maternal absence, and the question of legacy for orphaned children
- The intertextual relationship between Birthday Letters and Ariel creates a complex dialogue about responsibility, loss and memory
- When comparing the collections, focus on how different perspectives illuminate the same events and relationships