Loneliness and Isolation

Compare the Ways Plath and Larkin Write About Loneliness and Isolation In Ariel and The Whitsun Weddings

The subject of this comparative essay is how Philip Larkin and Sylvia Plath convey feelings, thoughts and moods of loneliness and isolation in the following poems: The Importance of Elsewhere, Mr Bleaney, Letter in November and Tulips. It will also explore how the poets use language and imagery to give items within the poems a personal meaning to them linking to loneliness and isolation, for example death and emptiness.

The poems “Mr Bleaney” and “Tulips” both have the same ideas of being isolated away from the rest of the world, and the theme of emptiness. Both personas are alone in different ways, however in Tulips it is indicated that the persona wishes to be alone as they aren’t appreciative of outside distractions, or the vibrancy of the tulips. The two poems are similar in the tones set by the writers, and this is the tone of tragedy, emptiness and irony. Tragedy is conveyed by using the theme of death, in Mr Bleaney it becomes apparent that he had passed away by referring to him in a past tense, where as in Tulips, death is conveyed in a more abstract context, represented by Plath as the colour white. Emptiness is another similarity of both, the room in Mr Bleaney is described as an empty, small enclosure which doesn’t have any room for ordinary everyday objects. However by the end of the poem the realisation is made that the character’s life was empty, he had no family or things to show to remember him by. In Tulips, emptiness is more of a feeling the persona desires to have, she wants to be shut away from the world and everything that feels complicated in her life, she wishes for her mind to be blank so that she can be at peace.

In Larkin’s poem “Mr Bleaney”, the persona’s feelings of loneliness are projected onto the character of Mr Bleaney, whose lifestyle is described throughout the poem and at the end concluded that his life was meaningless as...