Sunday, October 14, 2012
Sylvia's Views on Men
There were always examples of Plath's feminist style throughout the book, but in chapters 9 and 10 there is an increase of her views on men and women. When Esther is at the bar with Marco, she calls him a "woman hater" right off the bat, and has a passive attitude towards him the whole night. She refuses to stand up for herself while drinking, and when he asks her to dance she says, "I had to choose between following him on to the floorer having my arm torn off". There is a strong theme of mean men in the book, and they take advantage of women all the time. Plath's feminist voice comes out when Esther says, "Women haters are like gods: invulnerable and chock-full of power. I thought it was interesting that Plath weaves her strong women powered views into the book.
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I agree that Esther's views on male and female relationships come out strongly in chapters nine and ten. I also thought it was great that Esther pushed that man off of her when he attacked her, but I don't think Plath is showing us how strong women are, I think she's showing us how powerless Esther is. Like you said, Esther doesn't stand up for herself while drinking and she calls woman-haters "Gods". To Esther, woman-haters are extremely powerful. I believe Esther feels weak in comparison. I believe Plath is showing us how imbalanced power is between men and women.
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