Author: Noshaba Kanwal

Abstract: Sylvia Plath is an American Poet who has evolutionary ideas. Her poetry contains bulk of intense images and her ambiguous language conveys variety of ideas. Plath is considered a confessional poet but it will be underestimation of her work to confine her within a particular frame of reference. She has written about many issues in which gender role is also included. Masculinity in her poetry, has nothing to do with sex (males). Masculinity refers to gender roles; the role that is set by society that how males and females have to move in society in order to be recognized. Plath’s battle is not with male (sex) her basic conflict starts with masculinity (gender role) and in her poetry, I have found ambivalent attitude of Plath, for masculinity. She loves male authority but at the same time, has strong hatred for their dominance. Her poems; “A Secret” and “Full Fathom Five” are potent example of Plath’s ambivalence for masculinity. In both poems, she admires males, but in very next line/stanza, goes against her own view. The riddle cannot be solved even after her death.

Keywords: ambivalence, gender roles, masculinity, masculine image, confessional