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The Father-daughter Relationship in Sylvia Plath's "Daddy"

Sylvia Plath's poem "Daddy" is one of the best poems ever written regarding a topic that

describes the relationship between a daughter and her father. It may as well be interpreted as a

metaphor of feminine submission and final uprising in a world dominated by males liable for all

of the twentieth century's calamities and wars. While reading the poem, it discusses how women

are oppressed and subdued in a community where people prioritize masculinities and disregard

the rest without considering their reasons or feelings.

In this poem, the dad, tutor, statue, officer, spouse, and vampire; in short, all male

characters are given the leadership role and also oppressive character traits. The character's father

seems to be a restrictive god-like figure, very strong, controlling, and dominant. In his

dominating presence, the woman is restrained ('black shoe/In which I have lived like a foot) and

not capable to live a total existence ('Barely daring to breathe or Achoo'). In the line 'Daddy, I

have to kill you,' the female character comes to terms with his oppression, and she decides to

fight back against the male dominance that denies her full control over her life. In the poem, the

father is likened to a Nazi who assumes charge for the mass slaughtering of the Jewish people;

she says, she thought that every German was him (Agrawal). She is portrayed as a victim of

oppression to the female character by thinking she may as well be a Jew. For being exploited and

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violated, she shows women are in the same situation as Jews, and she also puts her father on the

same level as the Nazi radicals. In this depiction, men have the power to ruin women and cause

their symbolic deaths, all within legal bounds.

'Every lady loves a Fascist, /the boot in the face, the brute/ Brute heart of a brute like

you,' says the song. - 'Every woman likes a Fascist, /The boot in the face, the brute/ Brute heart

of a brute like you,' Plath writes with irony to illustrate the label of females who like violent,

strong men. Male aggressiveness is defended as a usual occurrence by this irony.

The attempt to express the ich demonstrates the denial of power by silencing women. It

also depicts how, in a male-dominated culture, women are viewed as second-class citizens. The

poem illustrates that the absolute power that men possess is that of making women surrender to

their dominant ideologies, thereby becoming an additional part of the world’s natural order. This

is seen clearly in sadomasochistic images ('The boot in the face,’ ‘And a love of the rack and the

screw'); it makes women take responsibility for their added roles.

In the poem, the author brings out the notion that women are created in order to be

trained and taught to be wise men; this is particularly evident in the line where the daughter tells

her daddy that he stands at the blackboard ('You stand at the blackboard, Daddy'). Male

characters are depicted as rational beings; however, females seem emotional who often commit

suicide when they feel miserable and lonely ('Bit my pretty are heart in two’). The female figure,

who perceives these inequities and sees her father-teacher function as the devil, says, "A gap in

your chin rather than your foot/But no less a devil for that (Agrawal)."In order to restore the

woman character's liberty, the father and spouse are referred to as vampires ('the vampire who

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Surname 1 Student’s Name Professor’s Name Course Date The Father-daughter Relationship in Sylvia Plath's "Daddy" Sylvia Plath's poem "Daddy" is one of the best poems ever written regarding a topic that describes the relationship between a daughter and her father. It may as well be interpreted as a metaphor of feminine submission and final uprising in a world dominated by males liable for all of the twentieth century's calamities and wars. While reading the poem, it discusses how women are oppressed and subdued in a community where people prioritize masculinities and disregard the rest without considering their reasons or feelings. In this poem, the dad, tutor, statue, officer, spouse, and vampire; in short, all male characters are given the leadership role and also oppressive character traits. The character's father seems to be a restrictive god-like figure, very strong, controlling, and dominant. In his dominating presence, the woman is restrained ('black shoe/In which I have lived like a foot) and not capable to live a total existence ('Barely daring to breathe or Achoo'). In the line 'Daddy, I have to kill you,' the female character comes to terms with his oppression, and sh ...
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Tags: Sylvia Plaths FATHER DAUGHTER RELATIONSHIP feminine submission masculine priority oppresive traits leadership role