...we shall board our imagined ship and wildly sail among sacred islands of the mad till death shatters the fabulous stars and makes us real.
Sylvia PlathRead
Why the hell are we conditioned into the smooth strawberry-and-cream Mother-Goose-world, Alice-in-Wonderland fable, only to be broken on the wheel as we grow older and become aware of ourselves as individuals with a dull responsibility in life?
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the clash between the innocence of childhood and the weight of adult responsibilities.
Sylvia Plath's quote highlights the contrast between the idyllic, imaginative world of childhood and the harsh realities of adult life. It questions why society conditions individuals to embrace a fairy-tale existence, only to then impose the burdens of responsibility and self-awareness as they mature. This conflict can lead to a feeling of disillusionment as one grapples with the loss of innocence and the challenges of growing up.
Themes
ChildhoodResponsibilityDisillusionmentInnocenceGrowth
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the pressures of adulthood, I might use this quote to illustrate the loss of innocence.
More from Sylvia Plath
All quotes βThe hardest thing, I think, is to live richly in the present, without letting it be tainted & spoiled out of fear for the future or regret for a badly-managed past.
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It is as if my life were magically run by two electric currents: joyous positive and despairing negative--which ever is running at the moment dominates my life, floods it.
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You walked in, laughing, tears welling confused, mingling in your throat. How can you be so many women to so many people, oh you strange girl?
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I keep wanting to crawl back into the womb.
Sylvia PlathRead
It's the living, the eating, the sleeping that everyone needs. Ideas don't matter so much after all. My three best friends are Catholic. I can't see their beliefs, but I can see the things they love to do on earth. When you come right down to it, I do believe in the freedom of the individual.
Sylvia PlathRead
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