Plath has compared her suicidal tendency to renaissance. She has in a way tried to project the concept of transmutation where she is trying to showcase her darker side decomposition of the old self to give birth to the new self is an idea that is carried throughout the poem.
She has made a comparison to Lazarus, whom Jesus resurrected back to life to enforce the idea of re-birth and hence the title, Lady ‘Lazarus’. Lady is used to convey that it she herself who re-incarnates each time she makes a suicidal attempt. There is a morbid sensation present through the poem. A strong feminist image of Plath also gets formed by the illustrations used in this poem.
It’s quite an irony that Plath demonstrates her attempt to kill self like an act of heroism. She however finds it miraculous to have lived after the suicide attempt. There is a strong contrast presented between her weak physical self, especially her victimized face which is deteriorated and her will to commit suicide. ‘Bright as Nazi lampshade’ refers to the imposing self of hers and the’ Jews linen’ describes her weak body. She feels that she is unable to go against her instincts and feels like being nailed to the ground.’ My right foot, a paperweight’ are used to describe her unmoved desires.
Plath has tried to sarcastically create an image of terror for her enemy and invite him to see her deadly and horrifying self. She also mentions that everyone to see her terrifying face which speaks death. Her appearance is certainly drained of the beauty and gives a terrific sight to the audience. She tries to convince everyone that she will gain back her strength, beauty and her mental peace back in a day. She is obsessed with the idea of dying so much so that she talks about death by using words like ‘grave cave’. She makes a witty comparison between herself and the cat and boasts that like the cat she has nine chances to die. She contemplates in an exciting tone about the fact that this was the third time she died. Her self-disgust is incumbent in her remark ‘What a trash, to annihilate each decade’.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
Plath’s inclination for suicides and her feeling of hatred for her own inner self comes out inform of guilt when she uses the phrase-‘a million filaments’. Even though she feels exposed, yet she feels superiority in holding the attention of the crowds/people who are aroused by her shameless psyche.
With a mocking tone, Plath is trying to show her altered physical self to everyone, including the readers. She points to her knees, skin and bone which had become weak but she insists upon the fact that this doesn’t mean that she has changed inside. She is still the same woman who met a life threatening accident at an age of ten, made a grave suicide attempt at twenty by eating sleeping pills. She believes that she is an expert in dying and brags about her ability to do so perfectly.