‘A Picture of Otto’ is Hughes’ response to the poetry of his deceased wife who negatively portrayed both Hughes and her father throughout her poetry collection Ariel. Written long after Sylvia’s suicide, the poem combines themes of guilt, love, and rivalry, portraying Otto as both a haunting presence and an authoritative force in Sylvia’s life. Unlike the previous poems, ‘A Picture of Otto’ is addressed in apostrophe to Otto, not Sylvia Plath, as Hughes attempts to confront Otto’s symbolic role in Sylvia’s suffering and, by extension, the conflict Hughes feels over his own part in her tragic death. This poem is written in free verse with no steady meter, enhancing its authentic nature and evoking the feeling that the reader is witnessing a raw conversation or emotional expression. Throughout the catharsis, Hughes reflects on his relationship with Plath and how it has irrevocably connected him with Otto, a man he never knew.
