Explore Plath’s feelings towards her pregnancy

The poem was written in 1959 by clinically depressed and suicidal poet Sylvia Plath. “Metaphors” was
written during a period in which Plath had mistakenly believed she was pregnant. The poem is a riddle
which uses a plethora of metaphors to describe Plath’s ambivalent feelings towards her pregnancy.
Throughout the poem, Plath describes herself as many inanimate objects such as a melon, newly minted
money as well as living objects such as an elephant and a cow. These descriptions help portray Plath as
lacking in maternal instinct and connection with her unborn child as well as her extreme discomfort in her
pregnant body.

The poem is constructed of one stanza with nine lines, each line containing nine syllables. The title
“Metaphors” also consists of nine letters. The repetition and emphasis of nine could suggest the nine
months of pregnancy and how significant they are. However, as the poem is quite ambiguous it may also
suggest the tedious nature of pregnancy and how it takes such a toll on the female mentality and physique.
The title “metaphors” may also emphasize Plath’s undecidedness on her pregnancy as the title doesn’t
explain the content of the poem or reveal her feelings of the poem. The title instead suggests hidden
meaning or mystery which may be the way the poet feels about her pregnancy. The uniformity and
structure of the poem with nine lines and nine syllables per line may suggest that she feels trapped within
her pregnancy as pregnancy isn’t something she can stop or change, which is later suggested in the poem
with the line “Boarded the train there’s no getting off”. This suggests that she cannot change what has
already happened and she has to live with it.

In the beginning of the poem, the poet states that she is a “riddle”. A riddle is an intricate puzzle which is
confusing and difficult to solve. This comparison may suggest that she herself does not understand or
know how she feels about her current state. The poet continues by describing herself as a “melon strolling
on two tendrils”. Plath over exaggerates using the hyperbole “melon” to describe her large and prominent
pregnancy bump. Plath continues exaggerating by referring to her extremely thin legs as “two tendrils”;
comparing them to thin twigs or stems. The juxtaposition and contrast between her bulbous belly and
twig-like legs help emphasize the discomfort that her body is in. The discomfort her swollen stomach has
caused her is also mentioned earlier in the poem when she is described as an “elephant”. The metaphor is
mocking the state of her pregnant body. The constant exaggeration may also imply that Plath is self-
conscious of her pregnant body as she is protecting her insecurities with humour.

Plath presents herself as somewhat of a surrogate; this is in the sense that her description makes it seem
that she has no connection of maternal feeling towards the unborn child. The asyndetic listing of “I’m a
means, a stage, a cow in calf” suggests that she doesn’t feel as if she is going to raise the child or call the
child hers, as the description “cow in calf” is stating that she feels like a cow whose calf is taken straight
after birth. Plath calling herself a “mean” closely relates to the well-known idiom means to an end which
means the thing itself is not useful, however, it is essential to achieve a goal. “Means” has quite negative
connotations as it implies that the baby is using her for its own benefit, which is a very cynical way of
viewing pregnancy. Calling herself a mean shows her feeling of lack of independence as well as her bland
acceptance of her situation. “Stage” also implies something similar as it means that she thinks that she is
only part of this “stage” of her child's life as if her child will outgrow her or push her aside once
independent. This idea of her being used as an incubator for her child is present throughout the poem as
earlier in the poem she labels herself “a ponderous house”. Labelling herself the inanimate object of a
“house” suggests she thinks that she will be part of her child's childhood, but not as a loving parent,
instead of as a benefactor or provider looking in and watching her child grow up, without any input,
significance or connection.

Finally, the last line provides some insight into how Plath feels about her pregnancy. “Boarded the train
there's no getting off” provides the reader with an image of a train leaving the station as if an opportunity
has been missed. The line suggests that she has finally accepted that there is nothing she can do to change
her pregnancy or to stop. This may suggest Plath previously had negative views on her pregnancy as the
line implies she had earlier thought of somehow stopping the pregnancy.

References

Sylvia Plath. (2019, August 29). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvia_Plath