Emotional Intelligence in the Later Poetry of Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton and Adrienne Rich

274 Pages·2010·0.73 MB·English

Emotional Intelligence in the
Later Poetry of Sylvia Plath,
Anne Sexton and
Adrienne Rich

Carol Margaret Houston
C. in Ed., B. Ed. Hons., M.Ed. Res.

Griffith University, Brisbane
Faculty of Arts
School of Arts, Media and Culture

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy

September 2007

Dedication

I would like to dedicate this work to the memory of my mother and father,
Margaret and George Gibson.

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ABSTRACT
During the 1950s and the 1960s the confessional poetry of Sylvia Plath, Anne
Sexton and Adrienne Rich triggered ambivalent responses from both critics and
readers. This thesis was precipitated by and focuses on these ambivalent reactions.
On the one hand there were critics who viewed their poetry positively because of
the way in which their poems genuinely probe the emotions. On the other hand
there were critics who maintained that the poetry of these three women was just
not poetry; rather their writing was compromised by their emotions. In both cases
the critics make judgments about the nature of emotion in poetry and the value of
these emotions and assume that emotions do not have a cerebral component. I am
proceeding from the very different standpoint that the emotions have a cognitive
dimension, and are an essential component in the way in which the poetry of
Plath, Sexton and Rich is cognitively moulded. The emotions, in short, help to
secure the poetry’s sense and meaning in a sense-making way. This use of
emotions to shed light on the poetry of Plath, Sexton and Rich has to date received
scant attention.
The thesis bases this approach on the work of a number of theorists of the
emotions. Because of the development of theories of the emotions in the last fifty
years, our appreciation of the cognitive dimensions of the poetry has flourished.
This thesis reasons that the emotion depicted in the poetry of Plath, Sexton and
Rich makes evident their cognitive reactions to specific happenings. As a result of
analysing the poetry of these three female poets, it is possible to see the shaping
spirit and the cognitive dimension of emotion in their poetry and the way in which
the individual emotions contributed to the structuring of the poetry.
Chapter Three investigates the character and role of anger in the poetry of Plath,
Sexton and Rich with the purpose of making evident the way it operates in a sense
making role, acting as a cognitive “shaping” channel through which their poetry
derives its logic and sense. The emotions of love, hate and jealousy are examined
in Chapter Four in order to show the way in which Plath, Sexton and Rich use
these emotions in their poetry to discover the sense of happenings in their lives
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and make evident a cognitive moulding agent from which their poems obtain their
coherence and meaning. Chapter Five explores the emotions of grief and guilt in
the poetry of these three women and demonstrates the way in which these
emotions make sense of events in their lives and the way in which their poems
derive their logic and significance.
This thesis demonstrates that the copious written expression of emotion has in
reality quite an intricate cognitive structure and how, for that reason, it should be
studied for its intellectual dimension as well as its emotional content. It argues
that the emotion in the poetry of Plath, Sexton and Rich is grounded in judgments
and evaluations that these three women have formed concerning events in their
lives. Plath, Sexton and Rich consciously and intelligently assessed these
happenings and their emotional reactions to them. It is this cognitive dimension in
their emotions which gives the allegedly unstructured “emotional” later poetry its
structure.
STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY

This work has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any
university. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material
previously published or written by another person except where due reference is
made in the thesis itself.

Signed: ……………………………………………………...
Carol Margaret Houston
September 2007, Brisbane.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I wish to thank most sincerely my principal supervisor, Dr Jock Macleod for his
unwavering support and inspiration throughout the compilation of this thesis. Not
only did he lend positive feedback when things were going well, but more
importantly, constructive criticism and encouragement when difficulties arose.
I also wish to extend special thanks to my associate supervisor Dr Belinda McKay
for her clear guidance and illuminating suggestions.
Thanks are also due to GUPSA for providing me with a postgraduate scholarship
during the latter part of my research.
Lastly I am most grateful to my family, my husband Robin and my children Peter,
Julie, Janey and David for their endless love, support and confidence in me and
for never allowing the possibility of not completing this thesis to be an option.
Thank you.

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