English EssayIt has been said of Sylvia Plaths poetry that it is too dark and depressing and it should

not be included on the Leaving Cert syllabus. Write a personal essay on the poetry of Sylvia Plath in which you argue for or against the inclusion. As the leaving Cert is designed as the terminal exam of post-primary education in Ireland, it is an exam primarily targeted at young adults, essentially teenagers. This cohort is, by the nature of its profile, a particularly vulnerable group both in terms of the pressures which the Leaving certificate itself brings and also the inherent vulnerability of being a teenager on the brink of adulthood. Mental health issues ranging from depression and self-harm to suicide are of particular concern with regard to this group. Poets may be considered to have great influence on those who are beginning to develop a keen fascination for and interest in literary art. Sylvia Plath could be regarded as a highly questionable role model in terms of her own life for those who might be easily influenced. For this reason, Sylvia is not an appropriate poet to feature on the Leaving Cert syllabus, in my opinion.

However, the essence of the question we are discussing today is not the poet per se, but the poetry, if one can separate the poet from the poem. So it remains to focus on the issue of Plaths poetry being too dark and depressing for inclusion on the Leaving cert course. Clearly, there is no dispute that Plaths poetry is dark and depressing. The recurring themes running through the Plath poems on the Leaving cert syllabus focus on negativity. Poppies in July demonstrates her detachment (where are your opiates?). disillusionment (if I could bleed) and depression (nothing burns), The Arrival of the Bee Box explores the chaos of mental anguish(the coffin of a midget) and fear and dread(the box is locked, it is dangerous). Mirror deals with fear of aging(in me she has drowned a young girl) and poor body image(searching my reaches for what she really is) indulging superficial values. Even in Child which should celebrate motherhood and the beauty of the child, Plath focuses instead on fear and insecurity(this troublous wringing of hands), anxious how her mental state could hinder her childs development and limit its potential (this dark ceiling without a star). Morning Song, however, originally appears to have a positive outlook on her world. Unfortunately, the poem contains various

reminders of Plaths mental condition, The window square is a symbol of imprisonment. So the question is whether such themes are too dark and depressing for inclusion on the leaving Cert. This brings me back to my original point in the introduction to this essay. The Leaving Cert exam is targeted on the youth of Ireland. It is an exam taken primarily by young people. The pressures of the exam itself, compounded by the demands on young people straddling the world of school and adulthood make these students vulnerable to suggestion. For these reasons I would argue that the poetry of Plath is extremely inappropriate as a result of its being too dark and depressing for inclusion on the Leaving Cert syllabus. In my opinion, Plaths poems may be better studied at another point in a persons life, where maturity and security can counterbalance the suggestiveness of despair.