Many poets choose to use some of their life experiences as subjects of their poems. Although the title of his poem comes from mythology, Ted Hughes uses his experience in some of his poems, such as "The Minotaur." This poem is perhaps a scene that he and his first wife, Sylvia Plath, had, on several occasions.
The title "The Minotaur" should perhaps be clearly defined, as there is often some confusion between "minotaur" and "centaur." A Minotaur is “a monster shaped half like a man and half like a bull, confined in the labyrinth built by Daedalus for Minos, and given a periodic tribute of youths and maidens as food until slain by Theseus.” (Merriam-Webster's Dictionary) It is said that King Minos had made Poseidon upset. He then transformed himself into a bull and then made love to Minos' wife, Pasiphae. From this act came the Minotaur.
A centaur, on the other hand, is “any of a race of creatures fabled to be half human and half horse and to live in the mountains of Thessaly.” (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Centaur) The Centaur and Minotaur are being slightly confused.
The speaker of this poem is most likely to be a man. The speaker could almost be Ted Hughes himself, reflecting on his marriage with poet Sylvia Plath. There are some clues in the poem, which may lead to this assumption. Perhaps, the main reason is that Sylvia Plath had some moments of wild rages, much like the woman in the poem of “The Minotaur.” This poem could be a reflection on these rages and the end of their marriage.
The poem opens in the first stanza with a four-line brief description. The speaker describes briefly the environment of what can presume to be his or her house. The speaker doesn't seem to be excited to come back home. There are two aspects in the first four lines, which may lead the readers to this conclusion. First, he uses somber terms to describe his home environment, such as the "mahogany" and "smashed." (Line 1) These two words already give the readers what he is most likely coming home to and what might be coming.
Secondly, he uses a symbol and says that he's “mapped with the scars of my whole life.” (Line 4) With this line, it almost sounds like the speaker has been hurt emotionally and both he and his life are built on these emotional scars and mistakes. It might not be necessarily true, but this is the way that he sees his life.
In the second stanza, from lines 5 to 8, the speaker tells the readers what they might have already been anticipating. He explains that his wife, most likely, got really furious at him, because he was “twenty minutes late for baby-minding,” as the speaker explains. The way that the speaker explains this, with the help of his choice of words, would seem that it was a very violent conversation, to say the least. He metaphorically says that his wife swung a high stool and that his scars “came under the hammer.” (Line 5) One could almost say that the speaker makes himself appear almost blameless. It is perhaps the case.
However, if this is really based on the Ted Hughes/Sylvia Plath relationship and if the readers know a little about their relationship, then the readers may understand that the rages might not have been totally uncalled for. The reason being that Ted Hughes was not the most faithful man and husband.
In the next two stanzas, from lines 9 to 16, the speaker responds to his wife's words and anger. In the lines 9 to 11, the speaker replies and is now also shouting. He tells her that what is happening is the type of things that she isn't putting in her poems and, perhaps, should put in her poems. In the next few lines, the atmosphere in the house calms down and the tension slowly settles.
In the lines 14 to 16, the speaker begins to bring in a more imaginary and mythological aspect to his poem. The speaker uses an allegory, when he says that, “Deep in your ear the goblin snapped his fingers.” (Lines 14-15) The "goblin" is perhaps the way that the speaker sees his wife's angry and frustrated side, or at least the aspect of her that controls her rages and her frustration. Perhaps the speaker sees a link between the goblin and the Minotaur, because he asks himself what he had given the goblin, in line 16, and people would give young children and maidens to the Minotaur. In a way, he is turning his wife, or at least her rages, into a Minotaur, in this passage.
