The Applicant

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1963

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Symbols & Motifs

The Wife

In “The Applicant,” the wife is never heard from and is only presented from the male perspective of the speaker. In this way, Plath is able to create a symbol for the way a male-dominated society views women. By positioning this poem’s perspective from the eyes of men, she presents a critical view of the way she thinks men view women: as objects to be bought, sold, possessed, and ordered around. The wife has no voice and responds only to the commands of the men in the poem. She has no personality or purpose, except for that which the men expect of her. For example, in what seems like a throwaway line at first, the speaker tells her, “Come here, sweetie, out of the closet” (Line 28), implying that she exists like a piece of clothing that is only taken out into the world when its owner chooses to wear it.

The fact that Plath, a noted feminist, writes the poem from this male-gaze perspective adds to the irony and sarcastic nature of the poem. She deliberately chooses this perspective and portrayal of the wife to highlight the blatant misogyny and dismissiveness of the male characters. Even by naming the poem “The Applicant” and not “The Wife,” she forces readers to confront the nature of patriarchy while they read the poem: Even though the applicant is the subject of the poem, the wife is the character who truly has the most at stake. Despite that, though, the poem focuses on the plight of the male character and leaves the woman as a background object whose only function is to provide meaning to the man. This is a common device in classic Hollywood cinema and in many novels, and Plath uses it ironically to add to the discomfort that the poem wishes to inspire in readers.

Nakedness and Clothing

In “The Applicant,” nakedness represents incompleteness, and clothing represents social convention. The speaker calls both the applicant and the wife naked, but these are for different reasons. The applicant is naked because he is incomplete. He has not taken a wife, and because of that, society views him as an outcast. He is unable to fit within the conventions of his world, and this makes others (namely the speaker) look down on him as “empty” (Line 26) and desperate (Line 39). His nakedness infantilizes him, and only by clothing himself can he join the proper, respectable adult world.

The only way he can clothe himself is by purchasing what society deems to be respectable clothing. In this case, clothing is really social convention, namely, a wife. Just before the speaker fully introduces the wife, he tells the applicant that he is in need of a suit. The suit need not be fancy or something the applicant particularly wants, but it is something that will keep him safe and that will follow him to the grave (Line 25). Right after this description of the suit, the speaker orders the wife out of the closet, implying that she is the suit that will fit the applicant.

Here, the speaker also describes the wife as naked, but her nakedness refers to both her value and the way that the applicant can dress her as he pleases. She is naked because she can become whatever the applicant chooses to make of her. If he takes her on as a wife and has her perform all of the wifely duties expected of her, then her value will rise over time. It’s important to note, though, that her value is only worthwhile to the applicant, not to her as an individual. In this poem’s world, a woman’s value is set by men and only worth something to men. The woman herself is just a vessel or a doll for the men to barter over.

The Applicant and the Speaker

The applicant symbolizes an ordinary man in this patriarchal world. He, like the woman, has no voice or personality. He dictates none of the action. He is powerless against the speaker. This implies that the poem views ordinary men as victims as well. However, it’s important to note that even though the applicant is powerless against the speaker, he is still participating in this transaction, meaning he does possess power over the woman. He may not be the ultimate “bad guy,” but he perpetuates this harmful system and subjugates the woman.

The speaker, on the other hand, answers to no one and controls the entire poem. The speaker represents the social conventions of patriarchy and consumerism and the way it dominates all people to dictate what is respectable and expected. The speaker demeans the applicant and commodifies the lives of the applicant and the wife in order to control them. The speaker dehumanizes the woman and belittles the applicant, and ultimately he sees both as his products and his customers as pawns to control.