REBELLION AND RECLAMATION: A RADICAL FEMINIST COMPARISON OF SYLVIA PLATH’S DADDY AND ASHLEY SINCLAIR’S ODE TO THE PATRIARCHY

Abstract

This paper presents a radical feminist comparison of Sylvia Plath’s Daddy and Ashley Sinclair’s Ode to the Patriarchy, focusing on how both poets dismantle patriarchal authority through violent imagery and unapologetic female voice. Drawing on radical feminist theory as developed by Kate Millett, Catharine MacKinnon, and Shulamith Firestone, the study explores how each poem transforms personal trauma into collective rebellion, exposing the mechanisms through which patriarchy silences, disciplines, and controls women. Through a close textual analysis, the research identifies patterns of symbolic patricide, linguistic violence, and the rejection of apology and silence as strategies of resistance. Empirical reviews of feminist criticism and contemporary poetic expressions provide further insight into how both works reflect and contribute to feminist literary insurgency. The findings reveal that both Plath and Sinclair reject conciliatory aesthetics in favor of poetic aggression, reframing poetry as an act of political warfare and self-liberation. Ultimately, the paper argues that their poems are not merely artistic expressions but radical declarations that challenge the linguistic, emotional, and structural foundations of patriarchal culture