LANGUAGE AS RESISTANCE: A STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF IMAGERY AND SOUND PATTERNS IN SYLVIA PLATH’S “DADDY”

Abstract

The study is a stylistic analysis of the poem Daddy by Sylvia Plath, specifically how language, imagery and sound patterns all combine to create meaning and frame reader response. Based on the theoretical models of the literary stylistics developed by Leech and Short (2007) and Simpson (2004), the study adopts qualitative, text-based approach to analyzing the poem on the lexical, imagistic, and phonological levels, where style is seen as the primary denoting device instead of ornamental element. It is seen that Plath uses pretentious simple but violent diction, which is characterized by monosyllabic words, the harshness of consonants and repetitive syntax patterns, which create the effect of aggressiveness and amplify the emotional impact. The high occurrence of direct address further makes relationship between the speaker and the addressee intimate, yet confrontational and the readers are attracted to the psychological disturbances of the speaker. Furthermore, the poem is characterized by impressive and sometimes exaggerated imagery including metaphors of entrapment, violence, death, and historical oppression, and the purpose of which is to alienate inner trauma, but also widens the symbolic, ideological reverberation of the poem. These pictures are appalling to the reader and support the speaker in her fight against being controlled and suppressed. Along with that, sound patterns also contribute to the creation of the disturbing impact of the poem as rhyme, alliteration, assonance, and resultant nursery-rhyme rhythm establish a worrying contrast between the lighthearted musicality of the poem and the dark themes presented in it. This conflict adds to the emotional instability of the poem and helps it have a haunting quality. Comprehensively, the research shows that all these stylistic features work together as opposed to their individual roles, and the meaning is released as a result of the reciprocal engagement of form and content. This study can be relevant to the field of stylistics by emphasizing the significance of the micro-level linguistic strategies, which create strong emotional and aesthetic impressions, and provide a fresh perspective on one of the most controversially discussed poems by Sylvia Plath.