Sylvia Plath's Greek Tragedy
Ranger, H. 2022. Sylvia Plath's Greek Tragedy. in: Helle, A., Golden, A. and O'Brien, M. (ed.) The Bloomsbury Handbook to Sylvia Plath Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 139–152
| Chapter title | Sylvia Plath's Greek Tragedy |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ranger, H. |
| Editors | Helle, A., Golden, A. and O'Brien, M. |
| Abstract | This chapter argues that Plath’s immersive study of ancient tragedians at the University of Cambridge, especially Aeschylus and Sophocles, has been understudied in relation to the iconic figure of Electra. Drawing on Plath's curricular materials, including the Cambridge Tripos Tragedy paper, and Plath's published review on versification of ancient poets, the chapter revisits the “mythological” approach to reading Plath, but without the anti-historicized focus that characterized earlier mythic criticism. The chapter uncovers a subtle yet pronounced critique of the transposition of classical texts into modernist critical discourse through sophisticated and self-reflexive “meta-poetic” commentary on canonical tragic figure and forms. “I borrow the stilts of an old tragedy” (CP 116), Plath’s speaker in “Electra” protests, both recognizing and swerving from the elevated canon and the conserving culture it represents. |
| Book title | The Bloomsbury Handbook to Sylvia Plath |
| Page range | 139–152 |
| Year | 2022 |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Academic |
| Publication dates | |
| Published | 21 Feb 2022 |
| ISBN | 9781350119222 |
| 9781350119253 | |
| 9781350119246 | |
| Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350119253.ch-12 |
| File | File Access Level Open (open metadata and files) |
| Web address (URL) | https://www.bloomsburycollections.com/book/the-bloomsbury-handbook-to-sylvia-plath/ |