19 pages • 38 minutes read
The Disquieting Muses
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Themes
Growing Up with Mental Illness
Sylvia Plath was well-known for her struggle with what is recognized today as bipolar disorder. The arc of the poem can be seen as a metaphor for a lifelong struggle with mental illness. The speaker remembers the three faceless ladies gathered around their crib after christening; they wonder if their mother made some foolhardy error that led to the figures being sent to their bedside, the sort of vengeance for a slight one might see in a classic fairy tale. Many people living with mental illness see it as an external force that has been a constant presence throughout their lives, and the parallels between the faceless ladies and the speaker’s mother support this idea.
In the third stanza, the speaker recounts a memory with their mother and brother, fending off a storm to keep the windows safe from damage. But when they finally do break anyways, the speaker blames the figures who hover around them—and by proxy themselves. This is an illogical yet natural response a child has to the world, displaying both the centrality they feel about their place in the universe and the awareness of malevolent forces at work within them. Guilt is a common reaction people with mental illness often experience simply for existing, or for not doing more. Within the poem, that guilt becomes fluid as the speaker directs it both at themselves and at their mother, who was unable to send the figures away with the power of her stories. This becomes particularly apparent in the following stanza when the mother’s disappointment causes the shadows of the figures to grow longer, suggesting an empowerment fed by the emotions of both the mother and the speaker. In this moment the speaker blames their mother’s tears as well as their own failure on stage.
As the speaker grows older, they begin to accept the presence of the faceless figures in their life. The darkness has not become any less, but the childhood fear has faded and left behind a sort of bond between the speaker and the figures. This is a common experience for people with mental illness, as they eventually accept it as a part of their identity and even find some comfort in its familiarity. The speaker turns away from the fragile, illusionary perfection of their mother’s constructed world, choosing instead to remain in the shadow of their illness and the world they know. They say, “this is the kingdom you bore me to” (Line 54), suggesting that the world they know is unchanging and eternal, and that they have no control over the darkness within it. And yet, they remain there, because it is home.
Leaving Behind the Safety of Childhood
“The Disquieting Muses” is in many ways a coming-of-age story, spanning birth to adulthood and all of the lessons that come in between. Though the poem opens with a snapshot of a newborn baby, the second and third stanzas show happy childhood memories: a mother reads stories to her children of a teddy bear’s great heroism, of bad witches that get defeated by the end. During a storm the mother and her two children band together to keep their spirits up as the winds attack the house. They eat cookies and Ovaltine and sing chants to make the lightning and thunder less frightening—a memory of a happy family. Even here, however, the presence of the figures is felt, and the speaker blames them for the broken windows. For the first time in the speaker’s young life, they wonder if the protection their mother offers has its limits.
In the next memory, the speaker is a little bit older and performing in a dance recital. They describe themselves as “heavy-footed” (Line 29), unable to keep up with the other girls. Here the “dismal-headed / Godmothers” become more prominent (Lines 30-31), casting a longer shadow over the speaker in response to their embarrassment and their mother’s tears. Moving on from dancing, the speaker’s mother instead sends them to learn music. This, too, is a failure. The speaker then begins turning away from their mother’s dreams and learns new skills elsewhere, away from parental influence. They begin to feel disenchanted with the world their mother has created. This is shown in the green balloon, a world fragile as a “soap-bubble” (Line 47). The speaker’s mother tries to hold onto her child imploring them to come with her, but the distance only grows. The speaker turns away and instead faces the faceless figures that are always at their side, a constant battle that they can only fight on their own.
In the final stanza, the speaker lives in constant company with the faceless figures. The narrative voice here has shifted from the effervescent childhood heard in the earlier stanzas to something more mature. Within the final line, the speaker takes on a sense of duty that comes with adulthood: But no frown of mine / Will betray the company I keep (Lines 57-58). Here the reader understands that the speaker has accepted their fate and decided to bear it with strength and humility, coming into their own independence.
Mother and Daughter Relationships
Although the poem explores mental illness and living between darkness and light, it is primarily an exploration of the speaker’s layered relationship with their mother. The reader understands that there is both love and disappointment on both sides. The first stanza opens with the speaker asking their mother what they did to incite the three faceless figures to show up at their bedside. The speaker looks for someone to blame, to try and make sense of a senseless darkness.
As they grow a little older, their mother becomes a place of safety and security. She is a storyteller and storm-charmer, whose stories always have happy endings and who keeps destructive storms at bay by feeding her children cookies and leading them in brave songs. The speaker wonders at their mother’s power, and if she ever tried to use it to free her child of the faceless figures that gather around their bed. There is a disconnect here, which many children experience at some moment in their lives: the idea that their mother is all powerful, and yet some bad thing still happened. This raises the question for a young child of whether their mother’s powers have their limits, or whether their mother simply chose not to use them. We see this seed of doubt take root as the study windows break in spite of their mother’s charms.
In the later memory, the speaker finds themselves unable to perform, weighed down by depression and fear. The reader feels the speaker’s mother’s disappointment, which only makes the shadows grow longer. Here, for the first time, there is a real connection between the mother’s actions and the shadows. This cause and effect of the mother’s emotions strengthening the figures impacts the distance that grows between the speaker and their mother. Although the mother continues sending the speaker to lessons, a divide is growing. After failing at music, the speaker begins to turn away from their mother and find some sort of peace with the faceless figures, who will never look at them with disappointment. The speaker watches the mother’s world, and the safe and sunlit world of their childhood fade away.
In the final stanza, the speaker blames their mother for the world they have created for themself: “And this is the kingdom you bore me to” (Line 54). However, this line shows that the speaker’s mother is still in their thoughts. There is anger, but there is also sorrow for the relationship that they have lost.
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By Sylvia Plath
