Sylvia Plath
The Poetry
of Initiation
Jon Rosenblatt
Jon Rosenblatt's persuasive book brings a new direction to the
criticism of Sylvia Plath's poetry. He guides readers away
from the non-literary concerns that have swamped Plath
criticism and places his emphasis on the work itself.
The book covers all phases of Plath's poetry, closely following
the development of image and idea from the apprentice work
through the last lyrics of
Ariel.
Rosenblatt shows that the aims
and methods of initiatory practice provide the structural
framework for most of Plath's poetry. He sees initiation
as the objective pattern into which she placed her
enormous personal suffering and anguish . .In the final
chapter, Plath is placed within the poetic context of her
contempories-Robert Lowell, John Berryman , and Anne
Sexton.
xv,
180
pp.
May, $14. 00
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS
Box 2288
Chapel Hill , N.C. 27514
