The theme of violence is commonly identified in both Plath and Hughes' poetry; however, the way it is incorporated by the two very different poets is at odds with each other, from the use of techniques, to different tones, to the subjects and content of the poems. Hughes, as a poet, was considered more "popular" at the time as he was at his peak, as his poetry was seen as more traditional for the time, because he wrote ingenious poems on common subjects, while the revolutionary "confessional" poetry of Plath was less read by the oppressed society of the mid-20th century. This is because her poetry was seen as complex, as she wrote about repressed and sensitive topics such as childbirth, the immense difficulties and struggles of motherhood, and her lifelong depression, which society would be shocked to read and perhaps made uncomfortable. This comes from the conditioning of society which classifies these topics as 'taboo' since childhood, meaning that Plath's poetry has not been given the same recognition it has now, after her death, in our modern and contemporary society. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay One poem by Plath that I will be writing about – “Cut” – explores violence in an almost self-destructive way that, while graphic in terms of images created and language used, not as explicit as Hughes’ poem in the way it he writes about violence in a frank and unavoidable way. The poem, overall, is about Plath in the domesticated setting of a kitchen, presumably preparing dinner alone, when she suddenly cuts her thumb with the knife she is using, but her subsequent response suggests deeper psychological tensions than those ordinary. an accident in the kitchen. It is arguable that the "cut" he writes about refers not only to the physical one, but perhaps to the emotional one that could foreshadow his future suicide. Plath opens the poem by saying “how thrilling” in describing her feelings towards this wound. . It is inferred that self-harm is being indulged in here; and the rest of the poem supports this as well, as there is no evidence to suggest that it is actually an injury, as he opens the poem not by stating the injury, but actually the thrill he felt as a result of it. There is a parallel to this tone suggestive of self-harm in her novel "The Bell Jar", which describes the character's thoughts about self-harm in which the protagonist Esther calls her experience a "little, deep shiver". He also briefly mentions the Klu Klux Klan in a simile comparing it to the medical gauze he uses to cover his cut, which is an American right-wing organization that Plath strongly disapproved of. The image of their white uniforms stained with his blood here is symbolic of the blood of their violent attacks on blacks. The inclusion of the color red prevailing over the white here reinforces the theme of violence. White, as a color, has positive connotations of purity, innocence and virginity, while red can be interpreted as negatively representing anger, danger and violence. The theme of violence against others and against herself is clear here and extends to many of her other poems as well. However, Hughes incorporates the theme of violence much more explicitly than his wife Plath. For example in his poem "Pike"; which describes the nature of the fish and his experience with it. In the first verse, he describes Pike as "Killers from the Egg". First, his strange use of capitalization in the noun "Killer" suggests an admiration for the fish's ability to do so without question or judgment, which.