Ted Hughes Birthday Letters - 1199 Words

BIRTHDAY LETTERS Introduction: Conflicting perspectives are different points of view expressed and influenced by ones context and values. â€Å"Birthday Letters† by Ted Hughes is an anthology of poems challenging the accusation that he was responsible for his wife, Sylvia Plath’s death. The three poems The Minotaur, Your Paris, and Red are an insight into Hughes justification of the death of Plath using a very subjective and emotive poetic form. The poems possess many deliberate techniques such as extended metaphors, connotations, diction and juxtaposition to encourage the audience to accept his argument that he was not the one to blame for this world renown tragedy. The poem Daddy by Sylvia Plath also displays conflicting perspectives of the†¦show more content†¦YOUR PARIS Quotes: The poem â€Å"Your Paris† indicates that from the beginning of their marriage, their perspectives on life were different, antagonistic. It also shows how Hughes was uncomprehending in the face of his wife’s personality and how he tried to come to terms with it. His version of the city was so different that â€Å"I kept my Paris from you†. It was the wartime city, occupied by the Germans, As Hughes registers their different responses to the city, and he finds a way of telling the truth about their different selves and the tension between them. The irony of this is that the situation is taking place on their honeymoon, although this is a biographical fact to which Hughes does not explicitly refer. That omission is suggestive of the problems of the relationship. Plath’s spoken responses to Paris, which enabled her to cope with the intensity of its impact upon her, produced a negative reaction in Hughes, â€Å"It was diesel aflame†, and â€Å"To the dog in me†. Conclusion: Your Paris is written from Hughes’s Perspective about Plath’s perspective, thus it is unclear whether Plath truly valued the significance of Paris. Hughes initial conflicting perspectives of Plath are represented in the poem. YOUR DADDY Quotes: In Plath’s poem ‘Daddy’, Hughes begins by pointing out that mere human beings were insufficient for Plath’s worship, she needed â€Å"a god†. The psychologicalShow MoreRelatedSha’Lynn Ayler . Mrs. Cowan. Honor English 12 4Th Block.1420 Words   |  6 PagesFebruary 2017 The Life of Ted Hughes In the â€Å"The Hawk in the Rain,† Ted Hughes writes, â€Å"I drown in the drumming ploughland, I drag up / Heel after heel from the swallowing of the earth’s mouth, / From clay that clutches my each step to the ankle / With the habit of the dogged grave, but the hawk/ Effortlessly at height hangs his still eye† (News about Ted Hughes†). This is Hughes’ first and most accomplished collection to this day. During the twentieth century Hughes produced some of his mostRead MorePeople s Love At First Sight By Sylvia Plath1567 Words   |  7 Pageslove at first sight. Sylvia Plath, an American writer, experienced the desirable moment the first time she saw Ted Hughes, an English poet (Middlebrook). The romantic relationship between Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath grew instantly. They both shared a love of writing, but yet their relationship began to go downhill five years after their marriage (Popova). The marriage between Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath was de structive because of Sylvia’s unstable mental health and Ted’s unfaithfulness, but it wasRead MoreA Brief Look at Ted Hughes646 Words   |  3 Pagesquote from Ted Hughes. Ted Hughes was a man of love. Hughes was known for many of his children books and famous poems. Hughes is also greatly known for holding the title of British Poet Laureate from 1984 until his death. Love was an important aspect of Ted Hughes life and two poems: Love Song and September. Ted Hughes was born August 17, 1930 in Yorkshire, England. His parents were Edith Hughes and William Henry. His father was a carpenter. Hughes had two siblings Owlyn and Gerald Hughes. At the ageRead MoreFlowered Memories: an Analysis of Ted Hughes Daffodils1319 Words   |  6 Pages‘Imagine what you are writing about. See it and live it. Ââ€"Ted Hughes, Poetry in the Making Edward James Hughes was English Poet Laureate from 1984 to his death in 1998. Famous for his violent poems about the innocent savagery of animals, Ted Hughes was born on Mytholmroyd, in the West Riding district of Yorkshire, which became the psychological terrain of his later poetry (The Literary Encyclopedia). He was married to the famous Sylvia Plath from 1956 up to her controversial suicide in 1956Read MoreTo What Extent Does Hughes Poem Your Paris Present the Main Issues of the Collection Birthday Letters?983 Words   |  4 PagesTo what extent does Hughes’ poem, ‘Your Paris’ present the main issues of Birthday Letters? (Reference to two other poems) Ted Hughes’ poem ‘Your Paris’ was written about Ted Hughes’ and Sylvia Plath’s visit to Paris shortly after their marriage on 16 June 1956. The poem is part of the collection ‘Birthday Letters’ published in 1998, 35 years after the suicide of Sylvia Plath and so is written (as most of the collection) with the benefit of Hindsight and so Hughes is able to relate their trip toRead MoreEssay about The Successful Career of Ted Hughes661 Words   |  3 PagesTed Hughes is a very successful author. There are many things that would allow you to come to this conclusion. Throughout his life, many things happened which helped contribute to his workings. Throughout his career he showed imagery, characterization, mystery, and irony techniques in his books and poems. The life of Ted Hughes contributed to many of his works. He is often referred to as one of greatest English authors in the twentieth century. He was born on August 17th, 1930 in Yorkshire. HisRead MoreAnalysis of Hughess You Hated Spain1097 Words   |  5 PagesIn You Hated Spain, Hughes explores the character of a woman and her relationship with her husband. You Hated Spain is set during the honeymoon of Plath and Hughes and is part of Hughes’ collection of poems titled Birthday Letters. Plath’s suicide was the result of a forced breakdown of communication with Hughes. Hughes’ use of free verse and enjambement creates a natural progression of thoughts. The autobiographical, ‘letter-writing’ genre suggests that these poems are a form of therapy, used toRead MoreHsc English: Conflicting Perspectives - Ted Hughes Poems985 Words   |  4 Pagescan do this by analysing the viewpoints presented by Ted Hughes’ confessional poems, The Minotaur and Red from his anthology The Birthday Letters (published 1998) and the feature article, Face of a People Smuggler by Fenella Souter, featured in Good Weekend (April 21, 2012). Through our analysis, we are able to separate fact from fallacy. The ‘truths’ presented by Ted Hughes’ The Minotaur are questionable because of the context in which Hughes released this poem. The Minotaur was published in 1998Read MoreTed Hughes: The Shadow of Sylvia Plath Essay example2299 Words   |  10 Pagesrecipient of both the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry and T.S. Eliot’s prize for poetry, Ted Hughes was an acclaimed poet. The shadow of Hughes late wife, Sylvia Plath, kept Hughes stagnant in his career, in which he was known as â€Å"Her Husband† (Middlebrook). Hughes most recent collection of poems, Birthday Letters, took him over twenty-five years to write, and contains poems which recount the marriage of the couple. Hughes wrote the poems as a loving gesture towards Sylvia, but the poems were misinterpretedRead MoreConflicting Perspectives - Hughes1429 Words   |  6 PagesTogether the works of Ted Hughes, Christine Jeffs and J.D Salinger combine to enhance an understanding of the concept of conflicting perspectives. The audience can see that there is a great deal of ubiquity in relation to Conflicting Perspectives. Ted Hughes’ poetry gives his account of a tumultuous part of his life whilst Christine Jeff’s film portrays a different point of view than that given by Hughes’. It is through looking at Salinger’s novel, that the role of the authorial voice in contrast