The Munich Mannequins

Plath’s specific selection of the yew tree carries many meanings. For Christianity, among many other religious and cultural traditions, a yew tree symbolizes life and rebirth after death. As the poem takes place during the winter, its needles would be a visual reminder of the coming reawakening of nature in springtime. Plath reinforces this connection to rebirth by comparing the yew tree to the hydra, itself a many-headed mythological creature who could regenerate any lost heads. Yet the yew tree is poisonous, and its branches and trunk are twisted and gnarled. The speaker uses these dueling connotations to reflect her complex relationship with femininity and motherhood. The yew tree mirrors the structure of the uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries. These organs are critical for reproduction and the ‘rebirth’ of humanity in the next generation. By connecting nature to women’s fertility, she suggests that motherhood is natural. The speaker criticizes models for pursuing a career that “tamps the womb” (Line 2) and prevents this regeneration. While the speaker is critical of women who do not have children, she seems more to unquestioningly accept motherhood as an expected role for women rather than endorse it fully.