Quiet Mountain Essays

Copyright ©, 2007

Sylvia Plath and Simone de Beauvoir:
Complimentary Styles in Patriarchal Commentary
by
Virginia Howard

Sylvia Plath’s poem “The Munich Mannequins” and Simone de Beauvoir’s philosophy in The Second Sex comment and elaborate upon social issues from similar perspectives.  In The Second Sex, de Beauvoir constructs a literary affront to patriarchal culture, which she deems as dehumanizing and relentlessly devaluing to women.  De Beauvoir theorizes that a ‘masculinist’ world view forcefully subordinates women into a placid role as reproductive vessels, exploited and tamed.  Although Plath’s poem somewhat emulates de Beauvoir’s theoretical constructions, it provides a clearer image of the everyday effect of female oppression with an emotional tinge into which the aridness of theory is unlikely to delve.

Sylvia Plath opens “The Munich Mannequins” with an emotionally charged address of the disdain socially associated with barren women:

“Perfection is terrible, it cannot have children.
Cold as snow breath, it tamps the womb
Where the yew trees blow like hydras,
The tree of life and the tree of life.” (262)

She is referencing the wisdom she associates with fertility by evoking images of yew trees, which are considered to symbolize acumen.  Plath addresses the continuity inherent in femininity with ‘the tree of life’ assertion, which references fertility and reproduction.  Simone de Beauvoir takes Plath’s poignant assertions deeper with an elaboration upon the social perception of maternity:  “And for about a century the reproductive function in particular has no longer been at the mercy solely of biological chance; it has come under the voluntary control of human beings,” (De Beauvoir 484).  De Beauvoir theorizes that the subordination of women is partially linked to the devaluation and social manipulation of fertility.  Contemporary society and modern technological advances allow human beings to control reproductive functions which were formerly left to the hand of natural happenings. Both women articulate the negative social circumstances surrounding fertility, yet de Beauvoir takes the issue deeper and elaborates upon the complex situation of reproductive control.
 
Fertility is closely linked, physiologically and philosophically, to menstruation.  Plath discusses menstruation lyrically, yet theoretically effectively:

“Unloosing their moons, month after month, to no purpose.
The blood flood is the flood of love,
The absolute sacrifice.
It means: no more idols but me.” (262)

Plath refers to menstruation as ‘the absolute sacrifice.’  This may be referring to the manner in which a girl is, at least in American culture, required to leave childhood and joyously embrace womanhood after the occurrence of her first menstrual period.  The entrance to ‘womanhood,’ occurs at the onset of puberty, whereas men are not socially pressured to behave in a mature fashion until a much later time.  Leaving childhood before a girl is emotionally prepared to do such could be considered a ‘sacrifice’ for the good of the continuance of the species.  ‘The blood flood is the flood of love’ provides a complex parallel to de Beauvoir’s understanding of menstruation: “Instances of attempted suicide are not unknown, and indeed it is natural enough for the young girl to be frightened as her life blood seems to be flowing away, perhaps from some injury to the internal organs.” (De Beauvoir 310). While Plath refers to menstrual blood as ‘the flood of love,’ de Beauvoir elaborates upon it as ‘life blood.’  Both terms are pinpointing the crucial role that menstruation plays in a young girl’s self identity and psychological development.  It may be ‘the blood of love,’ in that it symbolizes a love for others, as it is a key role in a woman’s ability to perpetuate life.  Menstrual blood is also ‘life blood,’ as it is representative of a serious developmental transition, and perhaps a young girl’s loss of freedom and control over her choices.                                                   
      
The exploitation of women is inherently connected to society’s misinterpretation of a role identifiable only as ‘other’.  The powerlessness commonly attached to the capacity for giving life is a lucid juxtaposition that Plath addresses in “The Munich Mannequins”:

“Naked and bald in their furs,
Orange lollies on silver sticks,                                                                                             
Intolerable, without minds.
The snow drops its pieces of darkness.” (262)                                                                              

‘Orange lollies on silver sticks’ references the disposability with which patriarchal culture discards the feminine.  A lolly is disposed of once it’s sweet center has been demolished.  Women are discarded by patriarchal culture once their purpose, as reproductive vessel, has been served.  Once the role of ‘mother’ has been fulfilled, women become ‘intolerable, without minds,’ as they have provided their function to society and are no longer useful to provide cohesion for a greater whole.  Plath is directly confronting society’s blatant exploitation of women in this section, which provides for a relevant application to de Beauvoir’s theory concerning the role of women in contemporary culture: “To pose Woman is to pose the absolute Other, without reciprocity, denying against all experience that she is a subject, a fellow human being.” (De Beauvoir 253).  De Beauvoir’s description of woman as the ‘other’ references the role which women inhabit as simply being what a man is not.  Women, as a supposed cohesive group, do not play any role in society’s formation of a distinct perception of their attributes; they simply become what a man is not.  This, therefore, leads to their exploitation, because with this social role, it is impossible to designate women as a group within the human race.  To distinguish a group as what another group is not is to eviscerate the latter group of its value.  Plath and de Beauvoir reference female exploitation, yet characterize it from differing points of expression:  Plath offers a depiction of the situation occurring due to the oppression of women, and de Beauvoir elaborates upon the social framework necessary for the exploitation of women to occur in and of itself.                                                                                 
     
Through analysis of The Second Sex and “The Munich Mannequins” it is evident that de Beauvoir focuses a great deal upon the cause of patriarchal culture and provides a theoretical basis for its existence.  Plath, working indirectly in a complimentary fashion, provides an image of the effect a patriarchal culture has had on women.  This assesses the general meaning inherent in “The Munich Mannequins;” the ability to differentiate themselves and strengthen their self-identity has been stolen from women.  They are forced, by a male-dominated culture, to live and think as faceless beings, as mannequins.  Sylvia Plath is consistent in assessing various aspects of the situation of women through this lens throughout the poem.  De Beauvoir dissects the social condition of the female by analyzing how this situation came into existence, and what kind of psychological consequences it may reap on members of society.  Plath assesses the product of patriarchal culture throughout “The Munich Mannequins” with her metaphorical depictions of female oppression embodied.  De Beauvoir, with a clearly existential perspective, and her theoretical findings, serves as a basis for conceptualizing the causal aspect of patriarchal culture.  Plath, through her lyricism, clarifies a depiction of the impact patriarchy has had upon women.  The relationship between the texts has proved to be indiscreetly complimentary in constructing a full spectrum of the reasons inherent in and the social product of patriarchy.

Works Cited

De Beauvoir, Simone. The Second Sex. Ed. H.M. Parshley. Alfred A. Knopf: New York, 1953.
Plath, Sylvia. The Collected Poems. Ed. Ted Hughes. Harper and Row: New York,1981. 262.

Contributor's Notes...

Virginia Howard is a 20 year old student at Florida State University, majoring in Women's Studies and Literature. Ms. Howard exhibited photography in Girlstock, a San Francisco non-profit show, in 2006; she is a presenter at the International Conference for New Directions in the Humanities 2008 in Istanbul, Turkey.  She lives in Florida with her two cats and boyfriend.

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