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December 21st, 2009 - we have 234 poets, 8,023 poems and 18,092 comments.
Analysis and comments on Daddy by Sylvia Plath

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Comment 50 of 70, added on December 13th, 2005 at 7:16 PM.

This poem "DADDY" shows how much she really did hate her dad. And that he
must have done something to make her feel this way and that is what she is
trying to tell everyone!

Katie Leigh
Comment 49 of 70, added on November 20th, 2005 at 11:30 PM.

Amber, please realize that the Nazis persecuted the Jews. Not the Germans.

Mark from United States
Comment 48 of 70, added on November 16th, 2005 at 11:15 PM.

In the 10th stanza she says "Not God but a swastika" what does this mean?
This is obviously referencing her father but I do not understand the
meaning behind it. Is she just using a visual symbol to reiterate her
feelings toward her father to the reader?

Diane from United States
Comment 47 of 70, added on November 16th, 2005 at 1:45 AM.

Jessica,

'Plath did not have major problems with her husband'.

Um, yes she did. In fact, he was already having an affair with a woman he
later married, when Plath wrote this.

The line 'coming through the telephone(sic)' is rumouredly a reference to
overhearing her husband's lover on the telephone.

Do you actually know anything about Plath or have you just seen the movie
and think you do? Incidentally, the film was not endorsed by Plath's family
who hated it enough to prevent the studio using any of Plath's poems in the
film. That fact alone, should give you an answer as to how accurate the
film is.

Elle

Elle from Australia
Comment 46 of 70, added on November 11th, 2005 at 4:45 PM.

Sylvia's father died when she was 8 years old. Despite the first impression
of the poem "Daddy", Plath adorded her father and did not have major
problems with her husband.

Sylvia was upset that she did not get to say goodbye to her father before
he died.

We must look beyond the immediate impressions of the poem's lyrics before
understanding it.

Jessica Lynn Harris from United States
Comment 45 of 70, added on November 11th, 2005 at 3:51 AM.

the line in the poem 'I thought every German was like you' is in the past
tense hinting that probably its abt her entrapment by' and then triumph
over the past, the demons in her past. I HTINK like many poets, she creates
personal myths that express most powerfully her sense of reality- the jew
and german relatoinship is a very powerful myth she uses.

priyanka from India
Comment 44 of 70, added on November 8th, 2005 at 4:56 PM.

I cannot say how much I love this poem. I know it is bout what she says,
her father. But to me, it is about many men I have known. My favorite
part is, "...every woman adores a Facist, the boot in the face, the brute,
Brute heart of a brute like you..." I sweat, that is it in a shell. I
could go on forever about how I understand that line....this is a fabulous
poem GREAT and if anyone else has opinions to share with me, please do!


Yelly from United States
Comment 43 of 70, added on November 8th, 2005 at 9:55 AM.

This poem is about Sylvia finally letting go of all her hurtfull memories
of her father. she constintly compares her father to her husband, thus at
the end of the poem stating how she has lost all trust and love for all men
universaly. when she says how she killed her father, she is saying how she
has killed her memories of him. It is important to realize her father was
not a nazi. please feel free to send any quiestion and statments to
laurence_f@mweb.co.za

Thank you Grant

Grant from South Africa
Comment 42 of 70, added on November 5th, 2005 at 5:07 PM.

Hey Jennifer!

Get an education! There are several references to Sylvia's husband, Ted
Hughes, in the poem, all of them to obvious to be coincidental or Freudian.
For example,

'I made a model of you,
A man in black with a Meinkampf look
And a love of the rack and the screw.
And I said I do, I do.'

and then later

'If I've killed one man, I've killed two -
The vampire who said he was you'

Syliva was venting her distrust of men, because she had been adbandoned by
both the prominent male figures in her life. First, the father who died
prematurely and later, her husband who cheated on her and left her in
poverty for another woman. The line about the telephone can also be read as
a reference to hearing her husband's mistress on the phone. I could go on,
but I'de be typing for ages when all you really need to do is get a proper
education rather than accusing people that DO have an education of reading
well-read poet's work with Freudian overtones. And for the record, I have a
dgree with a double major in both English and Psychology so don't bother
any lame come-backs about what constitues Freudian and what doesn't. I've
got more answers than I care to give and I'm not about to waste my time on
some fourteen year old that can't even grasp the english language, much
less interpret poetry.

Elle
xxx

Elle from Australia
Comment 41 of 70, added on October 21st, 2005 at 7:15 AM.

i think the jew and german thing is a metaphor. jews are persecuted for
their beleifs and germans were the ones doing the persecuting. i think
plath felt like an outsider due to her dad's actions and the way she felt
she was treated but i do not think it was completely literal that she was
jew and he was a nazi!

amber from United States

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Information about Daddy

Poet: Sylvia Plath
Poem: Daddy
Volume: The Collected Poems
Year: 1962
Added: Feb 20 2003
Viewed: 59423 times


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