Resurrection in the Midst of Death

Both the poems, and the life of Sylvia Plath, are often associated with themes such as depression, suicide, and death. Although such subjects are important characteristics of her poems, some poems are also about healing and rebirth - themes that serve as a ray of hope in what many believe to be thoroughly depressing poetry. The tension between death and rebirth/life is prominent in poems such as "Lady Lazarus," "Poppies in October," and "Tulips," among others.

Even the title of "Lady Lazarus" refers to rebirth. According to biblical stories, Lazarus was raised from the dead by Jesus, after having been in a tomb for four days. By calling it "Lady Lazarus," Plath foreshadows the subject of the poem - a woman who is brought back from the dead. Throughout the poem Plath makes references to failed suicide attempts, which can be interpreted as resurrection since, in a way, the doctors bring the narrator, who the reader cannot help but assume is Plath - taking into account Plath's own life - back from the dead.

Like Lazarus, it seems that, in her second suicide attempt, the narrator had been nearly dead for some time. She states that "They had to call and call / And pick the worms off me like sticky pearls" (lines 41-42). Generally, worms are associated with corpses that have been dead for some time, not with the freshly dead. In the final lines of the poem the narrator says, "Out of the ash / I rise with my red hair," again drawing on a comparison to Lazarus to imply resurrection. Rising from ash implies that she was completely dead, as ash means that life had burned out.