p1: marriage & monotony

• what is the the applicant about?

  dramatic monologue, speaker interview a silent male subjuect, assessing his suitability as a husband.

  Plath satirises transactional nature of modern courtship, portraying interviewer as a salesperson to marry the pair off
• "Something's missing?... Open your hand. Empty? Empty. Here is a hand to fill it." Plath uses LC and enjambment to facfilitate the deal.

  Enjambment: create a transitionary rest between 2 stanzas to depict transactional process.

  1. 1st line discerns speakers evaluation of male persona's absence of "somethings missing?" which is momentarily suspended over the line break, through the use of enjambment, before being solved on the next line "here is a hand to fill it
• Why does Plath use enjambment ?

  Plaths use of enjambment conveys persona's depersonalisation of wife, depict as perfect solution to all applicant's absences of "somethings" and "empty" "hand", reducing her to a mere means of fufilling superficial needs.
• absence of emotional expression conduces an atmosphere for a convenient, transactional marriage reinforcing deeply ingrained societal expectations placed on women to fulfil their role in domestic sphere, emphasising service, submission and suppression of agency
• absence of emotive LC in "somethings missing? open ur hand . emply empty? here is a hand to fill it?" convey WHAT?

  dull, factual, lifeless marriage proposal devoid of any emotions despite celebratory occasion

  • absence of emotional expression conduces an atmosphere for a convenient, transactional marriage
  • reinforcing deeply ingrained societal expectations placed on women to fulfil their role in domestic sphere, emphasising service, submission and suppression of agency
• context of "somethings missing? open ur hand. Empty? empty. here is a hand to fill it"

  20th century: prevailing monotony in attitudes to marriage and resounding need for change

  • In this era, rise of feminist movement, challenging traditional marital unions