Ariel

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1965

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Related Poems

“Skunk Hour” By Robert Lowell (1956)

Along with Anne Sexton, Robert Lowell was one of the few contemporary poets that Plath studied and read. “Skunk Hour,” one of Lowell’s best-known works, is from his 1959 collection Life Studies. Plath read from this collection regularly while composing the works in Ariel. Both poets rely on juxtapositions and enjambed lines to create fragmented works. Compared to Plath’s “Ariel,” “Skunk Hour” relies more on conventional syntax and sentence construction.

“The Colossus” By Sylvia Plath (1962)

“The Colossus” is the title poem of Plath’s first collection of poetry, 1962’s The Colossus and Other Poems. Indicative of Plath’s earlier work, “The Colossus” is less concentrated than “Ariel,” but it still deals with themes of the fragmented self. The poem begins with the speaker unsuccessfully attempting to reassemble their addressee. “The Colossus” also uses allusion to suggest the murder of Clytemnestra through reference to Aeschylus’s play Oresteia. Both “The Colossus” and “Ariel” show Plath to be writing through classic literary texts.

“The Black Art” By Anne Sexton (1962)

Anne Sexton is perhaps Plath’s closest contemporary in terms of subjects explored. Sexton is famous for her direct Confessional verse. Unlike Plath, who uses juxtaposed images and personas to manifest her ideas and themes, Sexton states her ideas directly. The distance between Sexton and her speaker, as a result, is smaller than in Plath’s “Ariel.” “The Black Art” is one of Sexton’s shorter poems and deals with female artistic creation.

“The Birth” By Dorothea Lasky (2015)

Dorothea Lasky draws on many themes that were essential to female Confessional poetry in the 1960s. In “The Birth,” Lasky attempts to break the association between poetry, birth, and death that Plath and many earlier Confessional poets built upon. This poem also demonstrates how poets like Plath and Sexton influenced later female-identified authors and allowed them to write about their bodies in true and novel ways.

Further Literary Resources

The Tempest By William Shakespeare (1611)

William Shakespeare’s The Tempest is the allusory backbone of Plath’s “Ariel.” Plath’s poem embodies the character of Ariel, a spirit bound to servitude by magician Prospero, and speaks through his voice. Though Ariel is referred to as “he” twice in Shakespeare’s play, his gender is often ambiguous. During Plath’s time, Ariel would have been played by female actors as often as by male actors. Ariel is a powerful figure, capable of supernatural feats. However, his freedom is tied to Prospero, and he is only set free once his captor leaves his island.

“A Beginner’s Guide to Confessional Poetry” By Emma Nichols (2018)

Confessional poetry was a dominant trend in American literature from the late 1950s to the early 1970s. This article by Emma Nichols provides a working definition and framework with which to better understand the advantages and the limits of the form. Nichols also draws useful connections between the rise of Confessional poetry and the popularization of psychotherapy.

“Sylvia Plath: Will the poet always be defined by her death?” By Lillian Crawford (2021)

Many of Plath’s poems deal with death and her various suicide attempts. Her vivid life and the circumstances around her death has led critics to make biographical readings of her work. This tendency is particularly strong in Plath’s posthumous works, such as Ariel. While these readings are important—particularly in Confessional poetry—Lillian Crawford points out that Plath’s works are not directly autobiographical. Crawford attempts to disentangle Plath’s life and works, and to dismantle the “cottage industry” surrounding the poet.

Listen to Poem

Sylvia Plath reads Ariel by Sylvia Plath

Sylvia Plath’s performance of her poem “Ariel” highlights many aspects of the poem’s form. Hearing Plath’s pronunciation of each word highlights the rhymes between stanzas that stitch the poem together. Her slow, deliberate reading also places emphasis on the assonance and consonance within stanzas.