Conflicting Perspectives - Ted Hughes' Birthday Letters

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Perspective is a complex matter, as it is derived from each individuals’ context and understanding of the nature of the issue. Thus, the concept of perspective is relative, meaning that each person’s views will be different from another, which creates, but does not necessarily impose, conflicting perspectives. For the purpose of this speech, the poems The Minotaur by Ted Hughes and Daddy by Sylvia Plath will be used to example the extremities of conflicting perspectives created. The Minotaur shows how Plath was a violent and manic person through the allusion of the myth about the Minotaur, a creature from Greek mythology, throughout the poem. Imagery is used to show Plath as an aggressive person, such as through the line “smash it into kindling”. The emotive line “The bloody end of the skein” creates the sense of abandonment and eternal suffering that by no means that one could be aware of. It suggests that Plath’s mind, the labyrinth, was something that Hughes struggled to understand, and propose that her psyche was beyond his control. He also utilises speech in The Minotaur, creating a sense of truth in Hughes’ part. While he is not seen as a saint within the poem (he remarks in a sarcastic matter to Plath in the poem), he positions the reader to empathise with him, painting the image that he is the placid one in the relationship, and the one who encourages her to embark on her creative pursuits “Get that shoulder under your stanzas/ And we’ll be away.”. The repeated use of the pronoun “your” creates an accusatory tone, suggesting that they were living Plath’s life, rather than their life. The poem also hints that Plath’s father was a monster. He describes her father as a goblin that influenced and controlled the mind of Plath’s. He even goes one step further
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