Abstract:
This paper analyzes the short story “Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams” written by
Sylvia Plath using a Feminist approach. The short story is based on a strong element of fantasy,
and is also noted for its graphic portrayal of fear and madness. Critics agree on the reading of
the text as a semi-autobiographic short story that served a therapeutic purpose for Plath, through
which she gave vent to the pent up frustration stemming from the social and domestic pressure
that pushed her towards her numerous suicidal attempts. However, this paper intends to extend
this reading beyond the element of personal in order to discover the mechanisms of the
patriarchal social order and the resultant anxiety of authorship in woman that are reflected upon
the “Lake Nightmare”-as Plath calls it. I have adopted the method of feminist literary analysis
of the short story, supported by comparisons with the other selected texts by the writer. I opted
for this methodology as it allows more space for the observation and the identification of motifs
in Plath’s writing and also their relation to the elements of feminist theory. For instance
“Johnny Panic” in this short story can be identified as an embodiment of all the tyrannical male
figures scattered across her writing – God, Devil, father, husband and many more, all recreating
the systemic oppression of woman within the patriarchal social order. The analysis is primarily
based on the concept of “Anxiety of authorship” forwarded by Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan
Gubar, and also the concept of patriarchal ideology. The paper also explores the related concept
of the “Mad Woman” as presented within this fiction. Based on this analysis, I argue that
“Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams” is a haunting portrayal of the patriarchal social
structure and its devastating impact on the less privileged “Other” – understood in this context
as the woman.
