Volume IV Special Issue II February 2024

Name of Author : Nithika R, Dr. P Deepa

Title of the paper : The Theme of Gender in the Select Poems of Sylvia Plath

Abstract: The word gender first came into existence as a substitute for the word sex in the United States during 1970s. The term gender describes the set of learned characteristics, behaviours and attitudes about being a man or woman from our biologically determined traits– collectively termed our sex. People often use the terms sex and gender synonymously. But there is a significant difference between sex and gender. Sex defines whether one is male or female based on their biological and physiological differences. Thus sex is a physical demarcation between the biological male and the biological female. The biological males are expected to think and act according to the masculine ways assigned by the society and the biological females are expected to think and act according to the feminine ways assigned by the society. The term gender describes the differences between men and women in social terms. Gender refers to the differences in behaviors and attitudes between the biological males and biological females as expected by the society. The American poet Sylvia Plath discussed gender and gender roles in many of her poems. Gender roles of women is one of the significant themes of Sylvia Plath. The poems selected for this study are Lesbos, Strumpet Song, Moonrise and Purdah. The selected poems dealt with the gender roles of women in American society during 1950s.

Keywords : Gender, Oppression, Women, Masculine, Feminine.

DOI :

Page Number : 64-68