Lady Lazarus by Sylvia Plath

main characters Female speaker

previous knowledge of topic In Christian belief, Lazarus was raised from the dead after his death

what can you imagine, not specifically outlined The speaker being able to be calm about death and life. She gives warning to God and Lucifer to beware because she is a greater force than what everyone expects.

thoughts on what was read The story was dark and evil in a sense. The speaker tells about the "sour breath," and "[picking] the worms off [her] like sticky pearls" which gives the nasty image of a corpse. At the same time, she speaks about death and how it can come peacefully or it can attack painfully.

emotional responses on what was read The poem gave me a chilled emotion, sort of like death itself. The beauty of seeing heaven or hell is referred to indirectly, and the miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead by Jesus Christ is mind blowing. Her use of the word "miracle!" gives the poem a deep meaning to life and death.

what do you want to learn more about I want to learn more about what Sylvia Plath was trying to show in this poem. I want to know if she was trying to make direct references to death and life or to God and Satan.

my reaction to the experiences in the writing I couldn't really have a reaction to the situation of dying and coming back to life because it rarely, if never, happens. I would be extremely weirded out if I did have it happen to me,and it would haunt me until I passed on.

related to my life The reference of Christianity is the biggest reference to my life. I was born and raised Catholic and much of what the speaker is describing is what I was always taught in Bible school and communion classes.


**after class discussion**

info about the author Sylvia Plath committed suicide. She tried representing the young, educated middle class women of the 1950's. She also went to Smith College and Cambrige University in England.

favorite section "Herr God, Herr Lucifer Beware Beware. Out of the ash I rise with my red hair And I eat men like air." I love the last six lines of the poem because she is challenging the almighty powers to fear her. Rising out of the ash is referred to a pheonix, an imaginal bird that dies by fire and is reborn by its ashes of death. I feel like it can mean that a person can come from the deepest pits and live life like they want. These lines say "look out world, I'm here and not backing down without a fight."

summary of discussion and reading The speaker of the poem has died for the third time, trying to perfect the art of death. She is raised from the dead once again, perhaps trying to be a mockery of God and the devil, and the principles of the higher beings.

evaluation/recommendation I liked the poem and would reccommend it to anyone who is facinated by the complex situation of life vs. death.