Water

As an extension of the old man’s body and the domain from which he originates, the water throughout “Full Fathom Five” is a representation of the paternity that has been denied to Plath. This paternity is “cold” and filled with “keeled ice-mountains,” suggesting Plath’s sense of alienation and psychological distance from it (3, 12). At the same time, the water is a representation of her yearning for access to that literary tradition. The final line, after all, is a blunt statement of desire for belonging: “I would breathe water” (45).

Hair

In “Full Fathom Five,” the old man’s hair is used to represent literary history. About the old man’s hair, Plath writes, “Miles long // Extend the radial sheaves / Of your spread hair, in which wrinkling skeins / Knotted, caught, survives // the old myth of origins” (6-10). The incorporation of “wrinkling skeins” and “the old myth of...