Language as Revolt: A Discursive Inquiry into Gendered Deliberation in the Confessional Writings of Plath and Das

The confessional poetry of Sylvia Plath and Kamala Das is compared discursively in this research, with an emphasis on how their language use subverts patriarchal narratives and reclaims agency. Both poets write in intimate, self-revealing ways that defy gendered, psychological, and social norms. While Das bravely defies patriarchal standards through her voyaging of desire, passion, and female liberation, Plath's confessional style dives into her battles with mental illness, relationships, and societal expectations of women. This study examines how the poets employ confessional dialogue to regain control over their identities and narratives as women through a comparative analysis of their works. From a linguistic perspective, both poets use unique stylistic markers that express psychological disintegration and socio-political opposition, such as abrupt enjambments, metaphorical density, and shifting pronouns. From a practical standpoint and a pragmatic perspective, their poems function as performative speech acts that involve, confrontation, and confession, where language serves as a weapon also a shield. Through Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and profound textual analysis of both poets' select poems, the paper thoroughly examines the confessional narrative structure and the employment of language as a counter-narrative against oppression. This study reveals the linguistic techniques that influence the confessional voice of a few chosen poems by analyzing their structure, tone, and rhetorical choices. The study concludes by arguing that Das and Plath's confession is not only expressive but also an act of linguistic revolt that is both stylistically stimulating and pragmatically powerful, establishing them as radical voices in gendered poetic discourse.