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Sylvia Plaths Tulips

Throughout the poem ìTulipsî by Sylvia Plath, the author seems desperately searching for peace and tranquility, and instead finds everything she despises, symbolized by the tulips she received as a get well present. The hospital setting, in which she is ìnobody,î provides a place where she can ìlearn peacefulness, lying by myself quietly,î as Plath explains in lines 3-4. She goes on to describe her room as very white and serene, and within the walls is a temporary escape from all the cares of the world outside, all the ìbaggageî she carries in relation to her family. Then she receives the tulips, which contrast with the white so much that Plath says ìthey hurt meî in line 36. The passage continues in this vein, relating that they ìweigh her downî in line 40, in a similar fashion as her family does. This is because the tulips make her ìaware of my heartî in line 60, telling her that she is becoming healthy and will have to leave the hospital and again be weighed down ...

Posted by: Leonard Herriman

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