Not uninformed, I just don't find it all that helpful. To use Plath again, if you are reading her work - not teaching it or writing an essay, just reading her - is it really helpful to think of her as a "confessional" poet? I would argue that it isn't. While it's probably good to know that she is widely identified as such (and I'm not sure how one could not know it), and that there was a connection between her and Lowell, an attachment to the idea of her as confessional might actually interfere with one's ability to read the poems as they are.
Blake is generally considered a Romantic poet, but is that helpful in reading and understanding Blake outside of the classroom?
etc.
Last edited by Hilary Biehl; 05-24-2025 at 08:05 AM.
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