Plath's Stings – An Analysis “Stings” is a feminist poem by Sylvia Plath. The last two stanzas are important for understanding Plath's feelings while writing the poem. In lines fifty-one through sixty, the speaker expresses that although it may have been a chore before, it will no longer be. She refuses to submit to society and be a hard-working chore. The speaker believes she is more than that – perhaps even a queen: “They thought death was worth it, but I have a self to reclaim, a queen. » The speaker of the poem realizes that she has the potential to be a queen, and she did not want to give up that dream. She wanted to get away from her drudgery environment that had once killed her spirit. She would “rise above the fray” and move away from the “engine that killed her: the mausoleum, the house of wax.” The hive has become more of a prison and she really wants to get away from it. The last two stanzas are important because they are metaphorical of how women are repressed and forced to stay at home - cleaning and watching the children. . It was considered wrong and outside the norm for a woman to want to pursue a career. Plath is trying to tell us that women who have become "drudges" as a result of marriage have more potential than just being housekeepers and mothers of babies. Other stylistic elements used by Plath include imagery and symbolism. She very vividly describes the appearance of the bee in the last two stanzas: “With its lion-red body, its glass wings... red scar in the sky, red comet. » The words create a clear image of what she must have looked like, escaping the "mausoleum", symbol of the hive and, therefore, of the speaker's entrapment. It “killed” her, or rather killed her spirit.