Poetic Destruction in "Conversation Among the Ruins" Anonymous College

Inspired by the 1927 Giorgio De Chirico painting of the same name, Sylvia Plath’s 1956 poem, Conversation Among The Ruins, is an ekphrastic sonnet structured as a story about author’s own failed relationship. The original painting, done in the surrealist style, is of an isolated, deconstructed domestic scene. Although Sylvia’s sonnet contains more turbulent action, the painting’s placement of the man and woman, in direct conflict with each other, speaks to the greater themes of her text, especially the more subordinate position of the woman. Through the use of symbolic imagery and alterations to the traditional sonnet structure, Plath chronicles the relationship’s deterioration and explores the dynamics between the destructive, dominant man and the wounded woman.

At first glance, the sonnet follows the traditional Italian 14-line arrangement with an octave and a sestet. However, this poem, both in structure and subject matter, is nothing like the commonly known Shakespearean love sonnets. It rejects ABAB and ABBA rhyme structure and avoids iambic pentameter altogether. Conversation Among The Ruins reads more like a descriptive monologue than a loving ode. Plath, with the use of “I”, is present within the poem, acting as both...