American Women Poets of the Post-War Period

The Post-War Period (1950s) marked by economic affluence and societal changes influenced American women poets like Sylvia Plath, Adrienne Rich, and Audre Lorde. They expressed fear, desperation, and societal challenges through confessional poetry, reflecting the postmodern condition and personal struggles. Explore the poetry of these influential women who challenged conventions and pushed boundaries, resonating with themes of alienation, epiphany, and triumph over pain.

• American Women Poets
• Post-War Period
• Confessional Poetry
• Sylvia Plath
• Postmodern Condition

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1. Dr. VASILEIOS N. DELIOGLANIS AMERICAN WOMEN POETS OF AMERICAN WOMEN POETS OF THE 20 THE 20TH & 21ST TH& 21 STCENTURY CENTURY CONFESSIONAL POETRY Department of English Language and Literature, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens

2. POSTMODERNISM (1945-2000) Socio Socio- -historical Context historical Context The atomic bomb (Hiroshima & Nagasaki, 1945) Jewish holocaust Cold War Economic affluence in US Materialism Capitalism Experimental artists: innovative, pushing boundaries. Postmodern Condition Postmodern Condition American Women Poets American Women Poets Fear, desperation, distrust, discouragement, doubt Sylvia Plath Anne Sexton Lack of innocence and honesty Adrienne Rich Celebrate free spirit Audre Lorde Fight against conventions, conformity & socio-political Elizabeth Bishop End of faith in absolute truths and master narratives Mary Oliver Louise Erdrich Superficiality & artificiality Irony & playfulness Sandra Cisneros Cathy Song Fragmentation Contingency & indeterminacy Presentation title

3. The Post-War Period (1950s) economic affluence progress, power and abundance feelings of fear, doubt and desperation Cold War - existential angst Conservatism, social conformity, and communal patriotism deviant groups are marginalized Women limited rights

4. Therapeutic; a means of self-expression Confessional poetry a mix of: modernist experiment & intense lyrical exposure (of and against taboos) Passage from private to public Walt Whitman: 1st confessional poet CONFESSIONAL POETRY Confessional poetry vs. Eliotic aesthetic No use of persona; I : persona Dramatic monologs Poem as deflection: prism effect Poems as examples of moral courage Alienation Revelations / epiphany Victory over pain and defeat Irony, overstatement or understatement

5. Sylvia Plath (1932- 1963)

6. Sylvia Plath Smith College and Cambridge education unresolved psychological problems (Lapsed into episodes of severe depression) marriage to Ted Hughes June 1956 death of German father at 8 years and life-long depression (two prior suicide attempts, death by suicide), divorce from Hughes Children: Freida and Nicholas Hughes having affair with Assia Wevil, sent her into depression The Bell Jar (1963) Ariel (1965)

7. Lady Lazarus (1962) Themes: Suffering, Violence, Death Biographical Fallacy Plath s death: placed her head in the oven with her two children still in the house Won Pulitzer Prize 1982 for Collected Poems Process of self-discovery Models of authority/masculinity Experience and insight Historical / Social / Political Context Emphasis on particular words / repetition Apostrophe Synecdoche Alliteration Rhyme: inconsistent / irregular Enjambement Line length alternates and affects the emotional impact of the poem

8. Anne Sexton (1928- 1974)

9. Anne Sexton wife, mother, and poet mental illness / committed suicide more autobiographical than Plath s confessional poetry poems appeal powerfully to the emotions female topics: childbearing, the female body, marriage other topics: madness and death

10. The Truth the Dead Know (1962) Subjective tone Rhyme: abab confessional elegy on the death of her parents in 1959 Themes: death & vanity of life