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Comment 24 of 24, added on May 25th, 2006 at 4:44 AM.
I think that the poem is well written and not only sows how women were
expected to act to be the perfect wife but at the same time illustrates the
pressure men were under to get the perfect woman to be seen as an
upstanding man in society. Plath was depressed most of her life but this
meant that her poetry was honest and not a few words put together to show a
glossed over veiw of life. The poem is not particularly feminist but simply
shows it like it is.
Sasha from Zimbabwe
Comment 23 of 24, added on March 25th, 2006 at 5:46 AM.
yeah, but see, Plath herself wasn't actually a feminist, as such. she quite
enjoyed her domestic role. Actual "Feminism" as any kind of political
movement or force, didn't come along until after her death. Its true that
in a post feminism society, it may be a dominant reading of the poem, but
we don't know what she actually meant, unless there some explicit statement
explaining it (and i guess getting those from poets is pretty rare, as
that's pretty much the 'magic' of poetry). i think its interesting the way
people view a lot of her poems simply because many feminists have used her
work, and put the poet herself up on somekind of pedestal, perhaps
wrongfully.
b. from Australia
Comment 22 of 24, added on February 15th, 2006 at 10:21 PM.
Christopher Reeve once ran the 400 meters in 4 seconds, whilst writing a
poem about how bad a poet Silvia Plath is. He wrote a seperate article on
the flaws in her prose.
Christopher Reeve from Canada
Comment 21 of 24, added on February 15th, 2006 at 9:55 PM.
Slyvia Plath as far as i can tell from these poems that ive read of hers,
was a manic depressive and a feminist. The Applicant seems to me to be
about 8 paragrahs of complete and utter rubbish. And by rubbish i do not
mean the poem in itself as its actually rather well written, but the way
that most females seem to interperet the poem. Most of the militant
feminists ive met seem to always have a Sylvia Plath qoute or poem on hand.
The fact is that then poem is not just about women being expected to be
good little housewives and serve tea. Plath is trying to make a point about
stereotypes for both men and women. She makes points about women being
stereo typical and also men, although the stuff about women being
housewives is hardly reaklivent nowdays as women have all the power and
behind every great man there has been a women waiting to stab him in the
back and take over.
Mitchell Porter from Australia
Comment 20 of 24, added on February 15th, 2006 at 10:18 PM.
Everybody Knows that Chuck Norris wrote better poems than Silvia Plath,
even Jesus. In fact, he invented the art form of poetry and his poems have
been known to make people cry until death from dehydration.
Chuck Norris from Australia
Comment 19 of 24, added on February 15th, 2006 at 10:09 PM.
I believe Sylvia Plath's poem 'The Applicant' is about the stereotypical
role of the traditional housewife. There to do how her husband pleases,
look as her husband wishes and do as her husband pleases. The poem implies
the oppression of the wife to be, to become no more than "A living doll"
bargained off as if she were a robot "To bring teacups and roll away
headaches""It can sew, it can cook, It can talk,talk, talk".
Jess from Australia
Comment 18 of 24, added on February 15th, 2006 at 10:17 PM.
I think this poem is making a mockery of marriage and the way woman are
stereotyped. "to bring teacups and roll away headaches and do whatever you
tell it" portrays women as an unfeeling object to be ordered around. Also
"come here sweetie, out of the cupboard" and "a living doll, everywhere you
look." Shows women as a robot, something that is only brought out when we
are useful. Sylvia Plath has written a very good sarcastic poem.
dani from Australia
Comment 17 of 24, added on February 15th, 2006 at 9:53 PM.
This poem in my opinion, is not only focused on the way women are treated
and stereotyped, but at the faults in our society, both men and women. It
is attempting to show us that we seem to be nothing more than robots,
manufactured to marry eachother and live a "happy life", and that this is
the normal thing to do. Particularly in the last paragraph:
"It works there is nothing wrong with it.
You have a hole, it's a poultice.
You have an eye, it's an image.
My boy, it's your last resort.
Will you marry it, marry it, marry it."
This verse to me symbolises the feeling that this is how a life should be
led "It works, there is nothing wrong with it" and that it is the only weay
to fit into a society and any deviation will bring sadness: "My boy, it's
your last resort.
Will you marry it, marry it, marry it."
Marty from Australia
Comment 16 of 24, added on February 15th, 2006 at 9:55 PM.
I think that this poem represents how important women are in the lives of
men. I think this poem is saying that men aren't complete without women in
their lives. The last stanza is saying that women are the bandage, the
thing that covers and fills their faults and needs. The second last line,
'my boy, this is your last resort' refers to men needing women in their
lives.
Lauren from Australia
Comment 15 of 24, added on February 15th, 2006 at 9:56 PM.
I think that "the applicant" is mostly about the stereotype women, "It can
sew, it can cook". but then at the same time we see that the man is also
being thought of like a stereotype, he is being asked if he has what it
takes, "are you our sort of person?". At least half the poem is, i think,
talking about them man (the applicant) where the other half tells us what
the women can and should do "A living doll". It may also refer to the
"Perfect marrige" because they would be pairing the perfect man with a
robot doll. The women is shown to us as a bit of a robot. Because it is
writtern by a feminist she would have writtern it in a sarcastic way.
Jane from Australia
This poem has been commented on more than 10 times. Click below to see the other comments.
[1] 2 3
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I think that the poem is well written and not only sows how women were
expected to act to be the perfect wife but at the same time illustrates the
pressure men were under to get the perfect woman to be seen as an
upstanding man in society. Plath was depressed most of her life but this
meant that her poetry was honest and not a few words put together to show a
glossed over veiw of life. The poem is not particularly feminist but simply
shows it like it is.
Sasha from Zimbabwe