Sylvia Plath wrote "Lady Lazarus" in 1962, during a creative burst of energy in the months before her death by suicide in 1963. The poem which remains one of Plath's most enduring works. "Lady Lazarus," is both the title of the poem, and its speaker—much like the biblical Lazarus, the man Jesus resurrected from the dead in the Gospel of John, the speaker is also resurrected by external forces, and more than once. This resurrection, however, is unwanted—the speaker reveals she wants to die in order to escape the profound suffering caused by living in an oppressive, male-dominated society. Instead, the speaker is forced to come back to life, each revival a carnival-like performance for a "peanut-crunching crowd." However, the speaker warns her enemies—the men who bring her back to life—eventually she will return and "eat men like air," demonstrating a complicated dynamic of empowerment and hopelessness. Using metaphors of death and resurrection, Plath provides a dark insight into the suicidal mind, as well as a critique of society's twisted fascination with suffering, and of the horror of a being a woman in a patriarchal world.
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I have done ...
... I manage it——
A sort of ...
... a Nazi lampshade,
My right foot ...
... Jew linen.
Peel off the ...
... set of teeth?
The sour breath ...
... a smiling woman.
I am only ...
... annihilate each decade.
What a million ...
... same, identical woman.
The first time ...
... like sticky pearls.
Dying ...
... knocks me out.
There is a ...
... or my clothes.
So, so, Herr ...
... your great concern.
Ash, ash— ...
... A gold filling.
Herr God, Herr ...
... men like air.
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
Biography — Poetry Foundation's brief biography of Sylvia Plath.
Plath Interview — Audio of Sylvia Plath's 1962 interview with Peter Orr, discussing her poetry career, influences, and her poetic interests.
Sylvia Plath Crash Course — An episode of Crash Course in which author John Green explores Sylvia Plath's poetry.
"Lady Lazarus" Audio — An audio clip of Sylvia Plath reading "Lady Lazarus." This reading includes a few differences from the published version— after line 12's "Do I terrify?" Plath adds, "Yes, yes, Herr Professor, it is I. Can you deny?" Plath also reads an additional line, "I may be Japanese," which follows line 33's "I may be skin and bone."
Plath's Letters — An article describing the publication of Plath's many, many letters of correspondence between her mother and others.