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“The nose, the eye pits, the full set of teeth?
The sour breath
Will vanish in a day.”

Sylvia Plath describes what she looks like in a grotesque tone. She sees herself as a living corpse, with "eye pits" instead of eyeballs, and "sour breath" that will disappear once she's actually dead—in a day.

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The title refers to the biblical character Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead which suggests that Lazy Lazarus tried to commit suicide but never succeeded.
At the beginning of the poem, Sylvia talks about Nazi lampshades that were made with the skin of the Jewish victims of the Holocaust. This is a very dark and disturbing image that the reader gets from the very beginning of the poem, it also allows the reader to make a connection between Lady Lazarus and the victims of the Holocaust.

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The title Lady Lazarus is a biblical reference, Jesus raised a man called Lazarus from the dead. The speaker tried to commit suicide but never succeeded, therefore always coming back, like rising from the dead. 'The peanut crunching crowd' shows anger towards people. This could be about people who mistreated her, or even to the reader. There are references to the Holocaust, 'ash, ash'. The speaker doesn't specify what 'it' is, but in the rest of the poem we can tell it's about suicide. 'What a trash to annihilate each decade', this could be referring to the failed suicide attempts, being a waste of time. The repetition in 'same place, same face, same brute' could be a sign of anger or frustration.

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The title Lady Lazarus is a biblical reference, Jesus raised a man called Lazarus from the dead. The speaker tried to commit suicide but never succeeded, therefore always coming back, like rising from the dead. 'The peanut crunching crowd' shows anger towards people. This could be about people who mistreated her, or even to the reader. There are references to the Holocaust again, 'ash, ash

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The title Lady Lazarus is a biblical reference, Jesus raised a man called Lazarus from the dead. The speaker tried to commit suicide but never succeeded, therefore always coming back, like rising from the dead. 'The peanut crunching crowd' shows anger towards people

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The "peanut-crunching crowd" that Plath mentions is Plath including the readers in the poem. "The same place, the same face, the same brute/ amused shout/[...]/there is a charge/for the eyeing my scars, there is a charge/for the hearing of my heart" this portrays how Plath knows that her readers will always be interested in what she does and knows that after each attempt she will have a large, attentive audience.

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The "peanut-crunching crowd" that Plath mentions is Plath including the readers in the poem. "The same place, the same face, the same brute/ amused shout/[...]/there is a charge/for the eyeing my scars, there is a charge/for the hearing of my heart" this portrays how Plath knows that her readers will always be interested in what she does and knows that after each attempt she will have a large, attentive audience.

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"Lady Lazarus" is a poem about suicide, the title, Lazarus is a biblical reference as Lasarus had been rises from the dead. Sylvia Plath is a confessional poet and speaks to us the reader as if we are familiars. Alot  of strong imagery is used throughout the poem especially when Sylvia Plath compares herself to the lampshades that the nazis made out of the skin of the Jews "my ski, as bright as a Nazi lampshade"
Death images are used in her poem as she refers to herself like a corpse "The eye pits" instead of eyes "sour breath.." Even though she is still alive it seems her body is dead and lifeless.

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She deliberately dehumanises herself by listing her body parts, drawing in a “peanut crunching crowd” watching the “strip tease” commence. Plath creates an imagery of the body by descriptively unravelling words – her skin, her right foot, her face, nose, ‘eye pits’, ‘full set of teeth’ and ‘sour breath’. Luring the crowd in with each valuable part until they are finally repulsed by the rotting flesh and sour breath of Lady Lazarus. You could say this reflects on Sylvia’s own encounters with people and perhaps how they reacted to her own skeletons when undressed publicly – a truly talented poet but undoubtedly depressed underneath.

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'Unwrap me hand and foot - the big strip tease.' This 'unwrapping' relates to Lazarus being unwrapped from cloth after he rose from the dead. However, 'the big strip tease.' is a reference to how overly sexualised women are and were at time and were only seen as sexual objects by men. Relates to the oppression women suffered.

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In contrast to 'Daddy' which has a very depressed tone and causes the reader to feel sorry for Plath, 'Lady Lazarus' has a much more powerful tone, and it seems like Plath actually enjoys being the centre of attention and perhaps feels she has beaten death. This comes across here, 'Dying/ Is an art, like everything else./ I do it exceptionally well.'

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The title of the poem 'Lady Lazarus' shows the reader that before even reading the poem, it may be linked to that of the biblical story to Lazarus who rose from the dead. The word 'Lady' in the poem gives the reader the idea that the speaker of the poem is a woman of authority who is married. The imagery in this poem shows the reader that the woman has tried to commit suicide many times. The speaker says "And like a cat I have nine times to die" , "Dying is an art ... I do it exceptionally well. " these descriptive lines create a picture in the readers head of what the woman was like and her mental stability. She also compares herself to that of a Phoenix, when the speaker says, "out of the ash I rise with my red hair" showing the reader that no matter how many times or how hard she has tried to kill herself, she always seems to 'come back to life'

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Title- The use of the name "Lazarus" suggests that she may be referring to the man from the bible who had died but been brought back to life so it could have been used to indicate that the poem was going to be about this certain topic. The fact that she used "lady" refers that she might be converting Lazarus' situation to her own.
Speaker- Throughout the poem it seems to be Sylvia talking about herself but it could be that she has chosen the speaker to be the lady Lazarus.
Subject- It seems to be a personal poem about her attempts to die, in the last line of stanza seven she mentions that " And like the cat I have nine times to die" then she goes on to mentions in the first line of stanza eight that "This is number three", these lines suggest her three attempts to die.
Imagery- Sylvia Plath makes use of imagery several time throughout this poem for example when she she mentions that her face was a "featureless fine
Jew linen" it was to mention the pale skin she had. She makes use of imagery to put her point across of her struggle with trying to commit suicide.

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The lines, "I am your valuable, the pure gold baby that melts to a shriek," The speaker comparing themselves to a pure gold baby suggests that others see them as this perfect person but in reality they, "melt to a shriek" as in they are fragile inside. The next stanza, "ash, ash - you poke and sti. Flesh, bone, there is nothing there-" possibly suggests that the speaker feels nothing, they are empty inside. Also the "ash, ash" could be a reference to the Nazi's burning the bodies of the Jews that died in concentration camps, the speaker could be comparing their pain to that which the Jews felt.

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Lady Lazarus could be based on Sylvia's life but illustrated by another name which shields her identity, almost as if she is hiding behind a character. There are implications of religion as Lazarus was a biblical character and she may be trying to indicate that her being brought back to life was similar to Lazarus. We can also be lead to believe that it is about Sylvia's life because the poem states 'The second time I meant To last it out and not come back at all' which relates back to her poem Daddy as it says 'At twenty I tried to die' therefore this implies the second life of her nine.

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Plath's use of the title 'Lady Lazarus' is to show her readers a comparison between Lazarus and herself. Lazarus was resurrected by Jesus four days after his death. Plath is describing her failed suicide attempts to successful resurrections. It is obvious to the reader that the speaker has had several experiences with death and considers it an art- " Dying, Is an art, like everything else. I do it exceptionally well". This also suggests to the reader that the speaker is troubled. The speaker feels like the hard part is not to die but to have to comeback "To the same place,the same face, the same brute".

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Lazarus was a man who rises from the dead in Johns gospel, this is linked to the central theme of this poem which is suicide. Plath experiences some form of death "One year in every ten" her father dies of misdiagnosed diabetes: "the first time it happened I was ten - It was an accident" she then attempts suicide "the second time I meant- to last it out ad not come back at all" and then she actually commits suicide, each of these experiences happened within different decades. Talks about Nazis and uses the German language, her father was a German soldier so her father could still be motivation for wanting to commit suicide. "My face a featureless, fine - Jew linen" she has likened herself to the victims of the Holocaust as she believes that he is a victim. "So, so, Herr Doktor. - So, Herr Enemy" she sees the doctor as her enemy as the time she attempted suicide they brought her back and psychiatric sometimes don't like their doctors because they don't think that they need help, could explain why she says this in her poem

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Plath uses the title “Lady Lazarus”
as Lazarus was a character in the Bible who was brought back from the dead by
Jesus and this relates to Plath’s poem as Lady Lazarus talks about the
narrators various failed suicide attempts. Plath writes the poem as if Lady
Lazarus herself is speaking, who is strikingly similar to Plath. 

Lady Lazarus talks to the reader as
if she knows them, telling them from the very start of the poem that she has
done “it” again even though the reader does not know what “it” is. She then
goes on to use metaphors to compare herself to “Jewish linen” and how her skin
is “Bright as a Nazi lampshade.” Which makes the reader realize she is
comparing herself to Jewish Holocaust Victims. 

Lady Lazarus also compares herself to
a cat by how she has nine lives and thus “have nine times to die.” The reader
slowly comes to realize that “it” is Lady Lazarus’s suicide attempts but
because she is like a cat with nine lives, she keeps coming back to life no
matter how many times she tries to kill herself.

Lady Lazarus also seems to think of
herself as a disgusting, circus freak who is for everyone to gawk at by how she
describes the “peanut-crunching crowd shoving in to see.” Usually, when we
think of a crowd eating peanuts we think of a place like the circus where
everyone comes to see the sights. But in this poem, Lady Lazarus is the sight
everyone wants to see. She goes on to describe how the crowd “unwrap” her in a
“strip tease” and they can see every part of her body, even her bones. 

Lady Lazarus continues to confide in
the reader, telling them of her past two suicide attempts from lines 35 to 42.
We find her first attempt was an “accident” yet the second was not. She feels
in her second attempt she was not meant “to come back” yet she is brought back.
She uses a simile “I rocked shut as a seashell.” To show that when she
committed suicide the second time, she shut herself up and tried to die but she
talks about how “they” (people who are trying to save her) and call for her to
come back. 

Lady Lazarus then goes on to say how “Dying
is an art, like everything else. I do it exceptionally well.” By saying how
everything is an art makes the reader think that little things like putting on
shoes or typing on a typewriter is art to Lady Lazarus which may seem odd. It
may also seem dramatically ironic to the reader that Lazarus says she’s “exceptionally
good” at dying despite the fact she’s told her reader that she’s failed more
than once to die, making the reader wonder did she succeed in killing herself
with her third suicide attempt. 

 

Then at the end, Lady Lazarus talks
about how she burns with only ash and “A cake of soap, a wedding ring and a
gold filling” being left, with these items possibly being on her body at the
time she burned. Lady Lazarus then warns “Herr God” and “Herr Lucifer” to “beware”
as Lady Lazarus describes herself as rising “out of the ash” with “red hair”
how she “eats men like air”. Lady Lazarus rising out of the ash makes the
reader think that Lady Lazarus is like a Phoenix, a legendary bird who after
turning to ash, rises alive again and Lady Lazarus is reived again like the
Phoenix, ready to destroy the men that hurt her. 

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Plath uses the title “Lady Lazarus”
as Lazarus was a character in the Bible who was brought back from the dead by
Jesus and this relates to Plath’s poem as Lady Lazarus talks about the
narrators various failed suicide attempts. Plath writes the poem as if Lady
Lazarus herself is speaking, who is strikingly similar to Plath. 

Lady Lazarus talks to the reader as
if she knows them, telling them from the very start of the poem that she has
done “it” again even though the reader does not know what “it” is. She then
goes on to use metaphors to compare herself to “Jewish linen” and how her skin
is “Bright as a Nazi lampshade.” Which makes the reader realize she is
comparing herself to Jewish Holocaust Victims. 

Lady Lazarus also compares herself to
a cat by how she has nine lives and thus “have nine times to die.” The reader
slowly comes to realize that “it” is Lady Lazarus’s suicide attempts but
because she is like a cat with nine lives, she keeps coming back to life no
matter how many times she tries to kill herself.

Lady Lazarus also seems to think of
herself as a disgusting, circus freak who is for everyone to gawk at by how she
describes the “peanut-crunching crowd shoving in to see.” Usually, when we
think of a crowd eating peanuts we think of a place like the circus where
everyone comes to see the sights. But in this poem, Lady Lazarus is the sight
everyone wants to see. She goes on to describe how the crowd “unwrap” her in a
“strip tease” and they can see every part of her body, even her bones. 

Lady Lazarus continues to confide in
the reader, telling them of her past two suicide attempts from lines 35 to 42.
We find her first attempt was an “accident” yet the second was not. She feels
in her second attempt she was not meant “to come back” yet she is brought back.
She uses a simile “I rocked shut as a seashell.” To show that when she
committed suicide the second time, she shut herself up and tried to die but she
talks about how “they” (people who are trying to save her) and call for her to
come back. 

Lady Lazarus then goes on to say how “Dying
is an art, like everything else. I do it exceptionally well.” By saying how
everything is an art makes the reader think that little things like putting on
shoes or typing on a typewriter is art to Lady Lazarus which may seem odd. It
may also seem dramatically ironic to the reader that Lazarus says she’s “exceptionally
good” at dying despite the fact she’s told her reader that she’s failed more
than once to die, making the reader wonder did she succeed in killing herself
with her third suicide attempt. 

 

Then at the end, Lady Lazarus talks
about how she burns with only ash and “A cake of soap, a wedding ring and a
gold filling” being left, with these items possibly being on her body at the
time she burned. Lady Lazarus then warns “Herr God” and “Herr Lucifer” to “beware”
as Lady Lazarus describes herself as rising “out of the ash” with “red hair”
how she “eats men like air”. Lady Lazarus rising out of the ash makes the
reader think that Lady Lazarus is like a Phoenix, a legendary bird who after
turning to ash, rises alive again and Lady Lazarus is reived again like the
Phoenix, ready to destroy the men that hurt her. 

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In the tercet of Lady Lazarus the use of language throughout each stanza portrays different themes in the poem. The most obvious theme of the poem is death. The line "Dying is like an art" and the title itself ( as Lazarus rose from the dead). However there are some less obvious themes portrayed like the inequality of womenin society. The simple line of "Gentlemen, ladies"  highlights how many were put ahead of women as they were seen as superior in society.

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In the tercet of Lady Lazarus the use of language portrays multiple themes throughout each stanza. The most obvious theme shown is this poem is death. The line "Dying is like an art" and the title itself (Lazarus rose from the dead) highlights that the poem is based on the thought of dying. However there are other less obvious themes portrayed in the poem like the inequality of women. The simple line "Gentlemen, ladies" highlights how men were always mentioned first as the were seen as superior to women in society.

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The title of the poem has biblical connotations to the character Lazarus who rises from the dead and this links to the subject of the poem which is suicide and that the speaker is likening herself to this character. The word 'lady' is used and this creates feeling that the speaker in the poem is a  married woman and the term makes her appear more noble and of importance. The speaker is a woman who has attempted to take her own life many times and the poem describes her suicide attempts in chronological order. The speaker appears to be a 30 year old woman who is suicidal and has links to Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. These links can be seen in the imagery of the poem for example "my skin bright as a Nazi lampshade" and "my face a featureless, fine Jew linen". These images are very haunting and provide an insight for the reader into the deep depression and pain the speaker is suffering. In stanza 9 circus imagery is used for example, "the peanut crunching crowd shoves in to see". This shows that the speaker feels that she is on display for all to see and she believes that she is being judged by the world and treated like a circus attraction or freak. 

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The title of the poem has biblical connotations to the character Lazarus who rises from the dead and this links to the subject of the poem which is suicide and that the speaker is likening herself to this character. The word 'lady' is used and this creates feeling that the speaker in the poem is a  married woman and the term makes her appear more noble and of importance. The speaker is a woman who has attempted to take her own life many times and the poem describes her suicide attempts in chronological order. The speaker appears to be a 30 year old woman who is suicidal and has links to Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. These links can be seen in the imagery of the poem for example "my skin bright as a Nazi lampshade" and "my face a featureless, fine Jew linen". These images are very haunting and provide an insight for the reader into the deep depression and pain the speaker is suffering. In stanza 9 circus imagery is used for example, "the peanut crunching crowd shoves in to see". This shows that the speaker feels that she is on display for all to see and she believes that she is being judged by the world and treated like a circus attraction or freak. 

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-Enjambment – reiterating that pain/torture in her life is never ending.
-Free verse – connotes freedom, as in portraying the fact that Lady Lazarus wants freedom from her miserable life

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-Using a simile to tell the reader her personal experience of attempted suicide; “…pick the worms off me like sticky pearls.”
-Fascination for death/ she sees a beauty in death; “dying is an art…”

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The title 'Lady Lazarus' is Plath's creation, the use of alliteration in the letter 'l' is effective as it adds artist style. Lazarus was a character from John's gospel who died and was resurrected by Jesus, so the title is significant as it means Plath tried to commit suicide but did not succeed. But when Plath wrote this play she did not want to be known as the speaker, instead of using her own voice she wanted the reader to believe it was the voice of Lady Lazarus.

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The title 'Lady Lazarus' is Plath's creation, the use of alliteration in the letter 'l' is effective as it adds artist style. Lazarus was a character from John's gospel who died and was resurrected by Jesus, so the title is significant as it means Plath tried to commit suicide but did not succeed. But when Plath wrote this play she did not want to be known as the speaker, instead of using her own voice she wanted the reader to believe it was the voice of Lady Lazarus.

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Hi guys, post your thoughts up here on the following features of Plath's Lady Lazarus:

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Hi guys, post your thoughts up here on the following features of Plath's Lady Lazarus:

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Title
Speaker
Subject
Imagery
here is a video of Plath reading her poem

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LIKE POETRY? VISIT http://www.burstingplethora.com CUSTOM ART T-SHIRTS FOR SALE @ http://burstingplethora.spreadshirt.com "Lady Lazarus" I have done it again. One year in every ten I manage it-- A sort of walking miracle, my skin Bright as a Nazi lampshade, My right foot A paperweight, My face a featureless, fine Jew linen.