AS DUAS IRMÃS DE PÉRSEFONE

A RECEPÇÃO DE SYLVIA PLATH

Abstract

The present article aims to discuss the poem “The Two Sisters of Persephone” by the American author Sylvia Plath, seeking to identify its reception of the myth of Persephone and the possible references used by the poet, as well as the aspects that frame the poem within the concept of "Abjection," by the French philosopher Julia Kristeva. The use of classical themes and elements was recurrent in Plath's work, although this aspect of her work has been overshadowed by analyses that favor the autobiographical aspects of her writing. Current readings, such as that of Holly Ranger, privilege the association of Plath with literary movements such as Confessional poetry and Revisionist Mythmaking, which emerged in the 1960s. In Revisionist Mythmaking several female authors, such as Anne Sexton and Margaret Atwood, claimed the use of classics, a predominantly male intellectual territory until then. In the poem “The Two Sisters of Persephone” (1956), Plath demonstrates extensive knowledge of classical primary sources, such as Virgil and Ovid. Nevertheless, by exploring the duality of the goddess, the author seeks to modify the character of Persephone in order to illustrate a yearning of her time and cultural context during the second wave of feminism: the apparent incompatibility between the roles of mother/wife and that of a professional and intellectual.