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Why is Sylvia Plath so angry with her father?

a) He was overprotective and controlling.
b) He left her mother for another woman.
c) He was emotionally distant and abusive.
d) He was a famous poet who overshadowed her.

User Tobi Obeck
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1 Answer

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Final answer:

Sylvia Plath's anger towards her father in her poem 'Daddy' relates to her struggle with his authoritarian influence and her efforts to break away to establish her own identity. The correct option c) He was emotionally distant and abusive.

Step-by-step explanation:

Sylvia Plath's anger towards her father, as depicted in her poem 'Daddy', stems from her complicated feelings towards him. Plath's father was a professor of biology at Boston University and an authoritarian figure within the family. After his death when Plath was only eight years old, she battled with these emotions, grappling with his domineering influence and the absence he left behind.

This struggle is vividly portrayed in her poetry, as she uses Nazi imagery to symbolize the extremity of her psychological conflict and the oppressive control she felt, seeking to sever the tie and establish her own identity apart from his shadow.

Sylvia Plath was angry with her father for multiple reasons. Firstly, her father was overprotective and controlling, which may have restricted her freedom and independence. Secondly, he was emotionally distant and abusive, which likely caused her deep emotional pain.

Finally, her father's overshadowing as a famous poet may have made her feel neglected and insignificant in comparison.

The correct option c) He was emotionally distant and abusive.

User AlexZ
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