The Rival Short and precise Summary
“The Rival” by Sylvia Plath is a poem about jealousy and competition between two women. The poem tells the story of a speaker who is jealous of another woman. Her rival has everything the speaker desires with all his heart. The rival woman is beautiful, confident and perfect in every way. On the other hand, the speaker is insecure and unhappy with her own life.
The speaker clearly describes the qualities of her rival such as: her physical beauty and the way she effortlessly attracts attention. The speaker suffers from jealousy and cannot appreciate the positive aspects of her own life. The speaker of the poem is so jealous that she cannot bear to be around another woman. She tries to avoid her, but everywhere she goes she sees a rival woman. She can’t avoid her.
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At one point, the speaker realises that her jealousy is consuming her. She can’t think of anything but other women. She even starts comparing himself with other women in his dreams.
As the poem progresses, the speaker becomes increasingly agitated and desperate. She imagines various situations in which the rival woman might fail or suffer, and she enjoys the thought. The speaker’s jealousy and bitterness ultimately lead her to a dark place. The poem ends with a haunting image imagining the death of the speaker’s rival.
Overall, “The Rival” is a poem about jealousy and how it can consume a person. It shows us that comparing ourselves to others is pointless and we should focus on being happy with what we have.
