Sylvia Plath Symposium 2012

I am absolutely delighted to announce that I will be presenting on the poem "Ariel" at the Sylvia Plath Symposium 2012 at Indiana University, October 25-28.

Here is my abstract:

Plath’s “Ariel”: The Feminine Arrow into the Apocalypse
By Julia Gordon-Bramer


“Plath’s ‘Ariel’: The Feminine Arrow into the Apocalypse” explores the fifteenth and title poem from Ariel, examining its numerical correlative Tarot card, Temperance, as the poem matches with Temperance’s meanings and symbols. Excerpted from Fixed Stars Govern A Life: the mystic reinterpretation of the work of Sylvia Plath, the poem “Ariel” is matched directly to the six facets of Qabalah: Hebrew/Tarot correlations; alchemy; mythology; history and the world; astrology and astronomy; and arts and the humanities. Plath’s genius with language is still mostly unrecognized, as a single poem such as “Ariel” contains so much complex detail. This presentation will take the reader line-by-line to reveal the Hebrew, gematria, and numerological correspondences, as well as an occult initiation rite. Plath wove in details of classical literature such as King Arthur and The Little Mermaid, and Irish Medieval, Celtic, Norse, and Babylonian myth in celebration of female power and fire. Astrologically, the poem “Ariel” explores the Age of Pisces as it moves into Aquarius, and the Mayan prediction of the end of the world in 2012. Perhaps most impressively, however, is the juxtaposition of the real-life history of the World War II bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the sideline tales of American fighter pilots and female foreign correspondents. Incredibly, these thirty-four lines do it all.

Most have understood the poem “Ariel” to be about a wild ride on a runaway horse. And that might still be true—as one small and less-significant meaning. We have always known that “Ariel” is one of Plath’s greatest poems. Now, it is time to understand why.