Lady Lazarus by Sylvia Plath Analysis

In her poem Lady Lazarus Sylvia Plath reveals a lot of information about the relationship between societal pressures and mental health. These societal pressures are that suicide is a way of controlling your life, that women need men to save them and that women are objects and just here to perform for others enjoyment.

The first societal pressure in the poem is that dying is a way of controlling your life. This is shown in the poem when Sylvia Plath writes “dying, is an art, like everything else? I do it exceptionally well.” In this tercet Sylvia is saying that she dies exceptionally well. This shows that she believes that be exceptionally good at dying is an accomplishment. It also shows that she does not really care about her life all that much and that she believes that by dying she is in control. However, by analyzing the poem you can understand that the men in the speaker’s life are in control since they are the ones that keep saving her life every time, she tries to end it. Another example from the poem is when Sylvia writes “And like the cat I have nine times to die.” This shows that the speaker believe that they are invincible and that no matter how many times they attempt suicide they will not die.  

Men are pressured by society to save women. When analyzing the poem, it can be understood that the speaker is saved by men every time that she attempts suicide. This shows that every time the female speaker dies, it is a male that resuscitates her.

In the poem it shows that women are nothing but objects there for someone else’s enjoyment. This is shown in the poem when it goes “And there is a charge, a very large charge. For a word or a touch. Or a bit of blood. Or a piece of my hair or clothes.” This shows that...Peanut-crunching crowd...The big strip teases. Gentlemen, ladies. These are my hands. My knees. I may be skin and bone.