Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"The Hanging Man" by Sylvia Plath is a disquieting exploration of existential ennui, rooted in metaphysical despair. In just six lines, Plath sketches a nightmarish tableau that encapsulates the complexities of the human condition-our existential questioning, a sense of purposelessness, and the mental agony that accompanies such thoughts. The poem uses vivid, even violent, imagery to convey the sense of being trapped in a futile existence, inviting the reader to grapple with notions of fate, agency, and divine intervention.

From the opening line, "By the roots of my hair some god got hold of me," Plath creates a visceral image of a forceful divine intervention that lacks benevolence. This god neither offers enlightenment nor provides comfort; instead, he subjects the speaker to excruciating pain, symbolized by "blue volts" that make her "sizzle like a desert prophet." The image echoes the archetype of a prophet as a bearer of divine revelation, but here the revelation seems to lead to torment rather than enlightenment.

The nights that "snapped out of sight like a lizard's eyelid" conjure a sense of abrupt loss and disorientation. The following line, "A world of bald white days in a shadeless socket," further develops this by removing the natural buffer of darkness, subjecting the speaker to an endless, monochrome torment. This imagery is claustrophobic and disembodied; the world is reduced to "a shadeless socket," echoing themes of futility and emptiness.

"A vulturous boredom pinned me in this tree," this line transitions from existential questioning to a feeling of stagnation. The metaphor of a vulture hints at death and decay, while "boredom" signifies a spiritual emptiness. Here, the speaker is "pinned" like a specimen, subjected to a god's or destiny's arbitrary will, or perhaps the indeterminate forces that confine human life.

The poem ends with a chilling inversion, "If he were I, he would do what I did." This seems to suggest that the same sense of boredom and futility extends to the divine entity. If the god were subjected to the speaker's life, he too would act in the same manner. It raises questions about agency and predestination-do we make choices, or are choices made for us?

By focusing on a world where light is searing and godly interaction is a form of torture, Sylvia Plath turns the typical narratives of divine intervention and enlightenment on their heads. "The Hanging Man" serves as a stark existential query, questioning the meaning-or lack thereof-imbued in human existence, thereby making it an unforgettable foray into the darker crevices of the human psyche.