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Analysis Of Sylvia Plath's Tulips

Decent Essays

“Tulips” by Sylvia Plath explores the idea of disconnecting oneself from life, only to be reminded of their responsibilities in life. The speaker in the poem is in a hospital room, separate from their family. No one is present in the white hospital room, except for the speaker and the tulips. The room is peaceful and allows the speaker to enjoy a lack of commitment towards anything. Unfortunately for the speaker, the tulips in the room remind the speaker of their life and bind the speaker to their responsibilities. In Sylvia Plath’s “Tulips,” color symbolism and personification contrast the peace of disconnection and commitments in life.
Color symbolism of the white hospital room and the red tulips juxtapose the peacefulness of the …show more content…

The color symbolism of the white hospital room and the red tulips juxtapose the peacefulness of the hospital room with the speaker’s internal conflict regarding their responsibilities.
Personification of silence and tulips further emphasizes the speaker’s disconnection with worldly responsibilities with the chaos of life. The silence and peace of the hospital room is freeing to the speaker, as they are removed from their responsibilities. The hospital room is void of any distractions and “The peacefulness is so big it dazes you,/ And it asks nothing” (32,33). By the room asking nothing, its quietness does not demand anything and this is freeing for the speaker, as they are disconnected from their responsibilities. The tulips remind the speaker of their life and their mortality, as they observe the speaker. The speaker has been left alone in the room, but once the tulips arrive the speaker realizes that “Nobody watched [her] before, now [she is] watched./ The tulips turn to [her]” (43, 44). The speaker, alone in the room, is free from any connections to the outside world until the tulips from her family arrive. The tulips, staring at the speaker, remind them that they do have responsibilities outside of the peaceful room. The speaker, alone in the room, is free from any connections to the outside world until the tulips from there family arrive. The tulips

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