Sylvia Plath wrote “Lady Lazarus” in 1962, during an intense burst of creative energy that shortly preceded her death by suicide, early in 1963. This creative burst led to the composition of many of Plath’s most famous poems, which were collected in the posthumous volume of 1965, Ariel. These poems, most of which are autobiographical and written in the first person, belong to what critics have dubbed the “confessional” turn in midcentury American poetry. Confessional poetry is known for its direct language and naked honesty, often addressing traumatic or otherwise troubling personal experiences from the poet’s life. This definition neatly describes many of Plath’s final poems, including “Lady Lazarus,” which centers a thirty-year-old woman who has attempted suicide on three occasions. Each time the speaker has survived a suicide attempt, she experiences a deeply traumatic return to the world she longs to leave behind. The poem’s title ironically likens the speaker’s return from the dead to Christ’s resurrection of Lazarus, as recorded in the Gospel of John. Whereas the biblical story is celebratory, the speaker’s tone is bitterly ironic and full of anguish. She suffers greatly in a patriarchal society that refuses to allow her control over her own body and life decisions.

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