The setting of the poem is unclear, as Plath provides few details to root it in a specific place. At different points throughout the poem, the speaker mentions domestic effects such as the lampshade, paperweight, and linen in the second tercet. However, she brings up such items to compare them to her body, rather than as concrete elements of her surroundings. She mentions a “grave cave,” which recalls the tomb of Lazarus in a cave in the biblical village of Bethany, while the way she addresses the “Gentlemen, ladies” of the “peanut-crunching crowd” suggests a carnival-like setting or a freak show, where she serves as both the barker and the attraction (17, 26-30). Her later references to “Herr Doktor” imply that she may be in a hospital (65). Because the geographic setting of the poem is so vague, one might argue that the real setting of the poem...