Sylvias Use of Senses in Ariel :: English Literature Essays

Sylvias phthisis of Senses in ArielAriel possesses power and importance, a certain element of orgasmic stress to the ground level to which the horseback ride Plath once took becomes something morea ride into the abyss of the unknown, a stare back into the eye of the sun, an odyssey to death, a stripping of character and selfhood, a sort of blatant exposition. To treat Ariel as a confessional rime is to suggest that its actual importance lies in the horse- ride taken by its author, in the authors psychological problems, or in its position within the biographical development of the author. None of these issues is as significant as the imagistic and thematic developments rendered by the poem itself. Probably the finest single construction of Plath, Ariel has articulate precision and prescience of its images. In its account of the ritual journey toward the center of life and death, Plath perfects her mode of leaping from image to image in order to represent amiable process. The se nsuousness and concreteness of the poemthe Black sweet blood mouthfuls of the berries the glitter of seasis unmatched in contemporary American poetry. We see, hear, touch, and taste the process of disintegration the horse uphill from the darkness of the morning, the sun beginning to rise as Ariel rushes uncontrollably across the countryside, the rider trying to catch the brown neck but quite tasting the blackberries on the side of the road. Then all the riders perceptions are thrown and twisted together the horses body and the riders merge. She hears her own cry as if it were that of a boor and flies toward the burning sun that has now risen. To a reader who is unwitting of Plaths biography ARIEL would probably most immediately call to opinion the airy spirit who in Shakespeares The Tempest is a handmaid to Prospero and symbolizes Prosperos control of the upper elements of the universe, fire and air. And seen from a more signify level, ARIEL was the lay down of her favorite horse, on whom she weekly went riding.The two reflections about the name ARIEL have often been noticed and pointed out, with the emphasis, from a critical perspective, being put on the biographical referent.But there is another possible referent in the title of the poem, which no one has yet noted, although the poet, apparently, went out of her port to make reference, even obvious reference, to it.