Schizophrenia can be described as state of mental disorder that creates difficulty in the identification of a person’s character (Palmer 47) .The characters poses different personalities with one main one which acts as the identity, guard and protector of the other characters. Suicide can be described as the act of committing self murder. It is usually caused by long periods of depression which are accompanied by premeditated thought of the acts of murder.
Schizophrenia has for a long time been credited as one of the causes for suicide amongst depressed patients (Botas 4). Schizophrenic patients usually tend to hide their emotions but usually succumb to constant outbursts from their multi personalities, who take over their bodies’ .The existence of multi personalities in a patient can lead the depression of the patient .This depression can cause the patient to feel trapped in a state of loneliness and torment (Palmer 47).This leads the patient to taking action which is normally in the form of suicide.
The research paper makes an original argument concerning a specific aspect of Plath work .The poems used in the research paper are Daddy and Lady Lazarus (Botas 4). The research paper analyses the argument in the context of a broad debate within Plath criticism. It reveals the schizophrenic tendencies she displays in her poems.
Morning and melancholia are topics that have been researched on from about 1915 by Sigmund Freud .In his research Freud compared mourning to melancholia .Freud states that the essence of melancholia had many aspects some of which could not be directly examined. Freud describes mourning as a loss of a loved one or something of value (Palmer 47).This shows that the person in mourning should have an attachment to the item or person he is mourning. This concept goes on to connect mourning with abandonment which can be used as a different concept. This is because the object that is being mourned is the source of the depression.
The definition of mourning can also be observed from an economic aspect .He describes it as loss of interest in the outside world (Botas 5). The work of grieving acts as a link to the mourner and the person in the outside world. Both Melancholia and mourning have similarities in that both sufferers develop the loss of self esteem.
The deference between mourning and melancholia can be seen in that. In mourning the world becomes impoverished either from the loss of a person of an object .Melancholia goes on to have a more elaborate meaning in that the ego is the factor that is loss (Botas 4). Melancholic depression further distinguishes itself from mourning seeing as the actions are directed at the love of the object itself. The pathologic development of depression is caused from the initial self importance of the object that is being mourned, which naturally promotes a self important nature .This object becomes predominant in the thought of the person thus causes depression of a patient. The object assumes an entourage which continues to torment the patient. This causes the patient to react with impulses thus looks for a safe haven. The committing of suicide acts as a way in which the patient would end the constant torment .The process of melancholia is completed when the act of suicide is complete. This separates the mourner from the object that was the initial cause of the mourning.
Both states of mourning and melancholia were both displayed by Sylvia Plath. Most of the ways she used to express herself were shown through her poems .Her case is however a rear situation (Palmer 47).We can argue that fact the Plaths display of different multi personalities may have been the reason for her genius poems .The fact is that it is through Plaths poems that we are able to study her multi personality and apply it to other similar cases that are displayed by patients.
Plath was known to be a perfectionist; her failure to reach her intended goals may have been one of the driving forces that led to her killing herself at an early age of thirty years. Her display of suicidal tendencies was not new to the people around her. Plath had attempted to kill herself at an earlier age of twenty years old. Her failed attempt to kill herself has been reflected in her poem Lady Lazarus which has been analyzed in the research paper.
Lady Lazarus
If we look at the poem Lady Lazarus by of Sylvia Plath, she writes about dying as an art .This shows that she is constantly thinking of death. She also claims to do it well this shows that in her thoughts ,she has frequently undergone the premeditation of the process of death. This further revels that although her death was sudden her suicides was rehearsed on several occasions to the point that it became an art.
Plath mentions that she dies because it feels like hell, this shows that her life is filled with constant torment by the loss of a loved ones .The fact that she mentioned that she does it because it feels real shows that she is reliving the act of dying(Brunet 5). .This also indicates that she was suffering from multi personality disorder .She mentions that dying is theatrical, she therefore finds it somewhat dramatic and entertaining .It also shows that she continues to premeditate her act of killing herself .In the beginning of the poem she mentions that she has done it again.
This shows that she has completed her frequent act of suicide. The poem is filled with indications that Plath had practiced the whole art of her suicide carefully detailing the existence of blood in her hair. It also indicates rebirth which is represented by the word Lazarus (Becker 9). Her rebirth to this world is what follows her death. Lady Lazarus is therefore a reflection of Plaths life and the depression she was going through until she met her death by committing suicide.
Daddy
The Poem Daddy was written after her separation with her husband. She uses the poem Daddy to mourn death of her father and the relationship with her estranged husband (Becker 9). In the beginning of the poem she uses repetitions which symbolize the impact the death of her father had on her .This style of repetitions can be viewed as a way of hypnotizing the reader. It also takes the reader to a place that is far from the world.
The poem begins with a warm and calm pace which deceives the reader into thinking the poem is not coming from a dark place, which is the norm in most of paths poems .Plath then displays her unpredictable nature when the meaning and the tone of the poem begins to change .The unpredictable change of tone in the poem is the first indication of Plaths random outbursts which is a sociopathic tendency.
Plath lost her father at an early age of eight years old when she loved him unconditionally. As she continued to grow she realized her father’s imperfections which she compared to the wrath of the Nazi soldiers (Brunet 5).This along with the loss of her marriage shows that both of the relationships with the men in her world were shot lived. Her writing of this book is therefore a display of mourning of the lost relationships for both her father and her husband who act as the objects being mourned .Her sudden change of the feelings she had for her father show that she has different multiple personalities.
At one point she loved her father unconditionally and later she compares him to a Nazi. The fact that she has lost these two objects sends her to a depressing state (Becker 9). It is here that she begins to fall victim of the constant torment from the memories of both relationships. Plath shows constant purging of her emotions and feels abandoned by her father and is thus separated from him forever. The language she uses for the title of the poem shows Plath’s inner child and how the death of her childhood impacted on her emotional growth.
The death of her father makes her learn how to deal with the loss of people in a different way. This also acts as evidence that Plath is forced to create the illusion of her father so that she is in constant communication with him (Brunet 5). With this constant communication comes the need for answers of questions which she asks in the poem. Although she is in contact with her father, she cannot get the answers she wants . This sends her to a depressing state that she continues to relive. This also shows psychopathic tendencies that she cannot rid herself off.
Conclusion
Sylvia Plath was a genius in her area of expertise .It is not known whether her poems were widely read due to the fact that they displayed a dark side of her life or that her poems were simply impeccable. The words in her poem reflected the sad life she lived from the death of her father to the divorce of her husband. Her poems went on to show the various multi personalities which she harbored and brought out when she wanted to prove a point. They also bring out the thoughts she had that she could not express without the use of writing. Plath’s poems have been used by many psychiatrists to analyze her condition when she was alive. Her poems have therefore brought out many revelations that were not noticed before her demise. The story of Sylvia Plath has been used to examine the red flags that a patient may display during depression. This has proved to be an important factor and shows although disappointing ,her suicide was not in vain.
References
Palmer, Pankratz. "The lifetime risk of suicide in schizophrenia: a reexamination.”A journal of General Psychiatry 62.3 (2005):47–53.Print.
Becker, Kilian . "Psychiatric services for people with severe mental illness across western Europe: what can be generalized from current knowledge about differences in provision, "costs and outcomes of mental health care Supplement 42.2 (2006): 9–16.Print.
Bottas, Edwin. "Comorbity: Schizophrenia With obsessive compulsive disorder.”A journal of Psychiatric Times 26.4 (2009):4-6.Print.
Brunet, Decety. "Social brain dysfunctions in schizophrenia.” A Journal of neuroimaging studies 8.2 (2006):75–92.Print .
