Mushrooms Sylvia Plath

Line by line analysis of Mushrooms by Sylvia Plath with questions for students at the end.

1. Mushrooms Sylvia Plath

2. Sylvia Plath Sylvia Plath was born in Boston Massachusetts in 1932 She excelled at school, particularly in arts and writing and was selected to be a guest editor on Mademoiselle magazine She attended Smith College, and made her first attempt at suicide by crawling beneath her house and taking sleeping pills She was treated with electric and insulin shock therapy before returning to Smith to graduate with highest honours. She won a Fulbright scholarship to study at Cambridge University in England where she met her husband Ted Hughes (who later became poet laureate of England) They had a short courtship lasting only a few months after which they moved to America to work and live there

3. Sylvia worked as a lecturer at Smith but found it difficult after her first child was born She retired and attended writing seminars eventually publishing her poetry as The Colossus She attempted suicide a number of times, but was treated by her old psychiatrist They returned to Englandin 1959, and Sylvia’s 2 nd pregnancy ended in a miscarriage She did eventually have another child but then split from her husband to live alone with the two children In 1963 she finally committed suicide

4. Plath’s Poetry Plath is a member of the Confessional School of poetry Much of her work is autobiographical and deeply personal Many of the concerns she addresses are women’s concerns, She was only recognised after her death receiving the Pulitzer Prize posthumously

5. What do you think of when you hear the word mushroom?

6. Sylvia Plath reads ‘Mushrooms’

7. Overnight, very Whitely, discreetly, Very quietly Our toes, our noses Take hold on the loam, Acquire the air. Nobody sees us, Stops us, betrays us; The small grains make room. Soft fists insist on Heaving the needles, The leafy bedding, Even the paving. Our hammers, our rams, Earless and eyeless , Perfectly voiceless, Widen the crannies, Shoulder through holes. We Diet on water, On crumbs of shadow, Bland-mannered, asking Little or nothing. So many of us! So many of us! We are shelves, we are Tables, we are meek, We are edible, Nudgers and shovers In spite of ourselves. Our kind multiplies: We shall by morning Inherit the earth. Our foot's in the door. Mushrooms

8. Stanza I Overnight, very Whitely, discreetly, Very quietly How quickly the mushrooms appear, is noted in the very first word. Whitely – is a strange word, it is acting as an adverb White has various connotations too mostimportantly purity and innocence Discreetly, and very quietly are synonyms . Discreet means to act carefully & cautiously which are is associated with being quiet There is no rhyme scheme, but a great deal of assonance and consonance is used. The ‘t’ and ‘r’ sounds clip of the words – as though to make you more guarded (cautious) of your words The ‘ i ’, sound (represented by the letter ‘y’) trails off the words adding emphasis to the idea of quietness Literal – the poem is describing mushrooms here, there is no hint yet what their significance may be apart from the use of colour.

9. Stanza II Our toes, our noses Take hold on the loam, Acquire the air. Inclusion of body parts indicates we aren’t talking about mushrooms but people through the use of personification Also note the speaker is using 1 st person plural to identify themselves as the mushrooms Loam – is a rich dark fertile soil. It’s very heavy Take hold – conveys the idea of seizing something, or grabbing something desperately Acquire the air – conveys the idea they’ve been suffocating. Assonance is used again with the repetition of the long ‘o’ sounds and short ‘a’ sounds Consonance is used with the repetition of ‘l’ and ‘r’ sounds. The sounds used are soft sounds , that reflect the quietness from the previous stanza. Stanza ii introduces the beginning of an extended metaphor , the mushrooms are personified. The idea that they haven’t had a place to live or air to breathe indicates that they are perhaps poor or oppressed.

10. Stanza III Nobody sees us, Stops us, betrays us; The small grains make room These people are unimportant to society because they aren’t seen Benefits to being unseen, are that you aren’t controlled (stopped) or betrayed Us – 1 st person plural Indicates the speaker identifies as one of the group Though small they are still increasing hence the need to make room Alliteration falls on the ‘s’ sound emphasising important words “see”, “stop” and “small”. The idea that this is a minority group is emphasised again. Yet the last line indicates they are gaining in number (and perhaps power). (Strength in numbers) Grains – marks a shift in metaphor. Grains of sand are indistinguishable from each other. How does this relate to the idea of nobody seeing them.

11. Stanza IV Soft fists insist on Heaving the needles, The leafy bedding, Soft fists – acts as an oxymoron. Fists are used for harming yet these are soft, which makes one think they are weak Heaving – again gives a notion of violence. Of throwing the needles aside. In informal British English heaving also means ‘extremely crowded’ which relates to the ‘grains making room’ from the previous stanza The scene here is again a forest scene with the diction conveying this through words like needles (pine needles), leafy, and bedding. What role does the environment suggest? Consonance – “f”, “t” and “s” sounds are all repeated in the first line. The other two lines use assonance with long “e” sounds closed off with a short “e” sound on bedding. This stanza introduces a hint of violence. The quietness of the mushrooms emergence has changed to a dramatic opposite, and yet no actual conflict has occurred other than existence.

12. Stanza V Even the paving. Our hammers, our rams, Earless and eyeless, Paving – again marks a shift. Paving is associated with urban environments Hammers & rams are also instruments of destruction again implying the prospect of violence. They are also the appearance of the heads of the mushrooms Earless & Eyeless – gives an idea of vulnerability. This contrasts strongly with the violence implied in the previous line Plath often uses internal rhyme, here again with the endings ‘–less’ she makes the prose fit together strongly by tying sounds together.

13. Stanza VI Perfectly voiceless, Widen the crannies, Shoulder through holes. We Voiceless serves two functions firstly it indicates the silence of the mushrooms growth Secondly it underscores the vulnerability of the people It is a counter to the idea of vox populi which means the opinion of the majority of the people Widen the crannies – speaks to the continuation of the mushrooms/people to grow and make more space for themselves “living space” To shoulder through – is somewhat aggressive and persistent. This gives the idea of determination of the people Holes – there is no pathway or welcome for the people, they have to enter through holes, cracks that they exploit themselves The poem has now given us a clearer image of the people it speaks about. They are definitely not the majority as they are voiceless and silent. They continue to grow and persist though, with an aggressive force that could be violent yet isn’t. Another image here is of an infant. Before a first breath infants cannot cry, and they also emerge from their mothers with some degree of violence.

14. Stanza VII Diet on water, On crumbs of shadow, Bland-mannered, asking This stanza focuses on the requirements that the people need to exist . The implication is that they need very little to survive and that they are unassuming. Quietly and gratefully receiving whatever small crumbs are offered to them. In addition the poem is clearer. We can now use the Gospel of Matthew as a reference to indicate these people could be women or foreigners due to the reference to the Canaanite woman . This would make sense as all since Plath is a feminist poet. Diet – the requirements and nutrients to survive. Water – the most abundant liquid on earth Crumbs – echoes Matthew 15: 21-28 and the Canaanite woman (a foreigner in Israel) who said even the ‘dogs’ get crumbs from the ‘master’s’ table Bland-mannered – pleasant agreeable and above all non-confrontational. Quietly accepting even shadow bread which doesn’t offer much of sustenance at all

15. Stanza VIII Little or nothing. So many of us! So many of us! Enjambent again draws attention to what the ‘women’ are asking for… And is underscored by the repetition of the two following lines. This repetition acts as a refrain and an entreaty . The switch to the 1 st person plural again “us” shows they do have a voice and are stating their reality. This is a slight change from the ‘ voicelessness’ of before. The repetition of the phrase is important as it brings through two ideas. Firstly that the ‘mushrooms’ are slowly gaining a voice Secondly they may not be a minority for long, there are ‘many’ now. And this increase in numbers will give them power, and begin more politically rallying cries.

16. Stanza IX We are shelves, we are Tables, we are meek, We are edible, Diction – shelves, tables are furniture Part of the domestic arrangements of homes and usually cleaned and looked after by women Metaphor – the mushrooms look like these items of furniture. Meek – Matthew 5:5 “blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth”. Gospel of Matthew is referenced again here and is one of the most famous of the beatitudes from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount Edible – edible here is also a contrast The earlier lines imply not much nutrition is needed, yet the mushrooms/women provide nutrition The traditional roles of women are strongly emphasised here. As domestic caretakers As mothers (mothers milk) As carers providing for more than just literal food but also food for the soul or mind Women are in danger of being consumed, used up entirely

17. Stanza X Nudgers and shovers In spite of ourselves. Our kind multiplies: To nudge and shove is to push for progress/growth Even if they don’t intend to Genesis 22:17   ”I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which  is  on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies .” This verse ties in the previous mention of ‘ grains’in Stanza 3 The mushrooms/women will continue to multiply, to increase and to lose their place as a minority and become equal or greater than Plath indicates here that although not intending to women automatically push for better positions and more important roles. This links clearly to the 40’s and 50’s where women were beginning to enter the workforce in larger numbers.

18. Stanza XI We shall by morning Inherit the earth. Our foot's in the door. The poem begins at night and ends in a morning that has not yet dawned ‘by morning’ Matthew 5:5 repeated again, from the original word ‘meek’ in Stanza 9. To have one’s foot in the door, means one is already introduced but hasn’t been fully entered into yet. The poem ends on a positive note . The prospect that progress has begun and if quiet persistence continues acceptance will come and power given ‘inherit the earth’

19. Form and Meter Write down the answers to the following questions: How is the poem divided into stanzas?Mention their length and how many there are. What sort of rhyme scheme if any does the poem use? Can you identify any meter (how many syllables per line)?

20. The Speaker What perspective is the poem written from? How do you know this? What groups or identities does the speaker include themselves with? What is the speakers relationship with the group they are a part of? Quote from the text to support your answer.

21. The Setting What sort of locations are mentioned in the text? What time frame does the poem occur in? What is the relationship between the settings and the groups that inhabit them?

22. Imagery and Symbolism What is the extended metaphor of the poem? What subject and objects are being compared? Give two examples of other objects mushrooms are compared to in the poem? What tone is set by the images and actions of the poem? Highlight specific words in your answer.

23. Themes – Women What specific imagery indicates the mushrooms are women? What makes mushrooms a good image to represent women and their struggles (or not). Is the poem pessimistic or optimistic and why? What other groups of people might the poem represent?

24. Themes – Passivity & Aggression Are the mushrooms aggressive or passive, Quote to support your answer. What message is the poem giving about revolution, or passivity and is it a positive or negative message. What sort of revolution do you think the ‘mushrooms’ would engage in?

25. Themes - Perseverance What obstacles are presented to the mushrooms? Quote. Are the challenges the ‘mushrooms’ face internal or external challenges? What goal is being striven for (not literal)?

26. Themes – Freedom & Confinement In what ways do the metaphorical mushrooms try to gain their freedom? How do these ways equate with methods used by women and other oppressed groups? What metaphorical forces are entrapping the mushrooms? How do they translate into reality for women and other oppressed groups? In what ways do the mushrooms entrap themselves ?