Emotional Intelligence in the Later Poetry of Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton and Adrienne Rich Author Houston, Carol Margaret Published 2008 Thesis Type Thesis (PhD Doctorate) School School of Arts, Media and Culture DOI https://doi.org/10.25904/1912/1513 Copyright Statement The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise. Downloaded from http://hdl.handle.net/10072/366978 Griffith Research Online https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au 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. iii 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 v vi Emotional Intelligence in the Later Poetry of Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton and Adrienne Rich 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. vii 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. ix