The speaker in Lady Lazarus seems to be mocking death behind an unexplained reason as to why she is still alive; maybe even hinting at a little divine intervention or comparing her femininity to that of a feline. Even so it is hard to pin-point the main reason as to why “a smiling woman” would be trying to commit suicide; which is usually the first question that is asked when one attempts such a deed. She mentions the different attention that she receives from it comparing herself to a Nazi lampshade or a paperweight and she also tells us how she is setup as a freak show. But to label these attempts at suicide as a “cry for attention” would discredit the poem although she flirts with the idea, maybe in order to mock the notion but at the same time she never reveals the reason.
She also dabbles with the idea of divine intervention as to why she is not dead referring to herself as “Lady Lazarus” “a walking miracle” and “The pure gold baby” and an allusion to the Phoenix at the end of poem. I almost feel that by doing this she is implying that a higher power is keeping her alive or at least bringing her back from death. I believe this because if you wanted to kill yourself and mean it surely you would and her account of her second time out of the three she tells us that she succeeds but that a miracle kept her alive. This was a very complex poem that definitely points in a lot of different directions of analysis that all make sense which makes the piece as good as it is but also as complex as it is.
The speaker in Lady Lazarus seems to be mocking death behind an unexplained reason as to why she is still alive; maybe even hinting at a little divine intervention or comparing her femininity to that of a feline. Even so it is hard to pin-point the main reason as to why “a smiling woman” would be trying to commit suicide; which is usually the first question that is asked when one attempts such a deed. She mentions the different attention that she receives from it comparing herself to a Nazi lampshade or a paperweight and she also tells us how she is setup as a freak show. But to label these attempts at suicide as a “cry for attention” would discredit the poem although she flirts with the idea, maybe in order to mock the notion but at the same time she never reveals the reason.
ReplyDeleteShe also dabbles with the idea of divine intervention as to why she is not dead referring to herself as “Lady Lazarus” “a walking miracle” and “The pure gold baby” and an allusion to the Phoenix at the end of poem. I almost feel that by doing this she is implying that a higher power is keeping her alive or at least bringing her back from death. I believe this because if you wanted to kill yourself and mean it surely you would and her account of her second time out of the three she tells us that she succeeds but that a miracle kept her alive. This was a very complex poem that definitely points in a lot of different directions of analysis that all make sense which makes the piece as good as it is but also as complex as it is.