Does History Provide Sufficient Solutions or Unanticipated Consequences? An Explication and Summary

History is elastic. It stretches great lengths in the directions it is being pulled in by society, sometimes multiple directions at once, but never appears to progress as far as humanity would like it to. That does not mean humans do not learn from past mistakes but rather, are often found looking for solutions to problems that have been solved before. Or alternatively, looking to modify previously adequate solutions. In Sylvia Plath’s poem, “A Lesson In Vengeance” she uses alliteration and tone to make a statement about how society executes goals using historical references.

“A Lesson in Vengeance” is a complex poem. Part of what makes it complex is the way it is written and Plath’s word choice throughout. In every stanza, there is some form of alliteration that moves the poem forward with a sonic grace. For example, in the second stanza, Plath describes the cruel and unusual punishment used in medieval times as “the overscrupulous/ Twisting of thumbscrews: one soul tied in sinews”. The repetitions of the ‘s’, ‘t’, and ‘ews’ sounds in this line create an audible appeal for the reader. This makes the reader crave the satisfaction of the sounds working together until the end of the poem. Plath uses alliteration to also press her point, emphasize certain images that are supposed to stand out, “By no miracle or majestic means,// But by such abuses/ As smack of spite…” This quote from the end of the first stanza and beginning of the second, sets the reader up with content for what the poem is about and uses alliteration to accentuate words like ‘abuses’, ‘smack’, and ‘spite’ forcing the reader to pay attention to them.

In the same way Plath uses alliteration to appeal to the reader’s senses and establish content. Her unimpressed, sarcastic tone is also highlighted through her word choice and historical reference. Throughout the poem, Plath uses historical settings and figures as examples of how the choices made by individuals during this time are extreme and ridiculous, rendering what result? Her tone can be explicitly understood from the start of the poem in the first stanza, “In the dour ages/ Of drafty cells and draftier castles,/ Of dragons breathing without the frame of fables”. The use of words like ‘dour’ and the description of the cells and castles as ‘drafty’ and ‘draftier’ allows the reader to understand her as poking fun at the setting, while the next line describes the dire situation of living in a time when violence was a social norm under the context of modern day fairy tales. A similar juxtaposition can be found in the third and fourth stanzas when she talks about Henry Suso and Cyrus the Great. Not only is her description of both historic figures vivid but also, they are introduced with the preceding line “ and all the unconquered pinnacles/ Of God’s city and Babylon’s”. This line adds to her unimpressed tone by describing both Suso and Cyrus’ greatest accomplishments as ‘unconquered pinnacles’. Plath essentially undermines the torture Suso put himself through to prove his commitment to God and the torment Cyrus and his people endured to take Babylon; while simultaneously adding to her statement which questions the purpose for their actions when they have little to no application in the present moment.

“A Lesson in Vengeance” is a multifaceted piece. Plath’s use of alliteration and tone adds layers to this poem by taking the accomplishments of historical figures and questioning their unsettling methods under a current scope. This poem leaves the reader contemplating the present ideas or solutions of powerful figures and if they will produce lasting results or unanticipated consequences.