I am nobody; I have nothing to do with explosions. / I have given my name and my day-clothes to the nurses / And my history to the anesthetist and my body to the surgeons.
-- Speaker (Lines 5 – 7)

Importance: These lines establish Plath’s paradoxical self-identity at the beginning of the poem – in declaring “I am,” she seems to make a positive assertion of self but instead builds her identity off of the void and emptiness that is “nobody.” These lines also suggest the process of objectification chosen by Plath’s “I.” Plath reduces her identity into a series of clearly delineated markers – “name,” “day-clothes,” “history,” and “body” – that, like mere objects, can be given to the hospital personnel. In these lines is also a reference to the famous work of another lyrical poet: Emily Dickinson’s “I’m Nobody! Who are you?” But Plath, in comparison to Dickinson, seems much more troubled by the peace...