Spinster - Sylvia Plath

Question 1

Literary devices

Answer 1

• Imagery
• Symbolism
• Metaphor

Question 2

Imagery

Answer 2

??

Question 3

Symbolism

Answer 3

Use of seasons

“Reel giddy in bedlam spring”
“whole season, sloven”
“how she longed for winter then!”

Question 4

Metaphor

Answer 4

Military semantic field

“barricade of barb and check”

Question 5

Structure

Answer 5

5 stanzas, all stanzas have the same ordered structure, cyclical structure (First and last stanza focus on her, second and fourth stanza focus on spring and the chaos it brings, third stanza focus on winter and order).

Fourth stanza:
“Reel giddy in bedlam spring / she withdrew neatly”. Separated final line shows how she separates herself from spring and its chaos
During this stanza there is a lot of caesura and enjambment and she becomes worked up and angry and refers to the spring-enjoyers as “idiots”: “Let idiots / Reel giddy in bedlam spring” However, she ends it with “she withdrew neatly” where she returns back to her normal ordered self and keeps her frustrations contained in one stanza, not letting it flow into the next. This continues the idea of “each sentiment within border”