Examining The Life Of Sylvia Plath As Seen Within

“I manage it--” (3), “sort of” (4), “Do I terrify?--” (12), “underestimate” (72) and “Beware” (80) explain the choice of words by Plath that explains the doubtful tone of the poem and helps to create the image of death through the shallow voice of this helpless woman.

In 1963 on a cold winter day of February 11th, Sylvia Plath ended her life. She had plugged up her kitchen, sealing up the cracks in doors and windows before she was found with her head inside of her gas oven inhaling the dangerous fumes. She was only thirty years old, a young woman with two small children and an estranged ex-husband. A tragic detail of her life is that this is the second time she had tried to commit suicide. Plagued with mental illness her whole life, which is evident within her poetry. She would write gripping, honest portrayals of mental illnesses. Especially within Ariel, the last poetry book she wrote, right before she took her life. Although it’s hard to find a proper diagnosis for Sylvia Plath, it is almost definite that she at least had clinical depression with her numerous suicide attempts and stays in mental hospitals undergoing electroshock therapy. Sylvia Plath is now famously known for her writing and the more tragic parts of her life. Such as the separation from her husband, Ted Hughes, mental illness, etc… Plath may not have intended for her life and art to become inspiration to many people but that has become the end result. Sylvia Plath writing shows symptoms of her suicidal thoughts. To study specific moments in Sylvia Plath’s life, it can be connected to certain writing’s of her’s, such as “Daddy”, The Bell Jar, and “Lady Lazarus”.

In her poem, “Lady Lazarus,” Sylvia Plath uses dark imagery, disturbing diction, and allusions to shameful historical happenings to create a unique and morbid tone that reflects the necessity of life and death. Although the imagery and diction and allusions are all dark and dreary, it seems that the speaker’s attitude towards death is positive. The speaker longs for death, and despises the fact the she is continually raised up out of it.

Sylvia Plath was an American Poet who was renowned for poetry mostly in the United States. She, however lived a difficult and depressing life which led to a few futile suicide attempts, but ultimately led to a successful suicide attempt leaving her children to live on without a mother. This end result was due to a multitude of issues in her life from Sylvia’s sanity. She wasn’t the most stable child. Her marriage also played a role in her suicide. Her successes weren’t acclaimed until after her death, when a majority of her work was released. There were two major aspects to her life: her poetry and her sanity. These three combined make up a majority of Sylvia’s life.

Sylvia Plath’s work is marked with her trademark style, one full of enigmatic analogies and ambiguous metaphors. Sadly though, the life of Sylvia Plath was indeed shorter than anyone expected. Nevertheless, in the thirty years Plath meandered through the world, she left an everlasting impact. Remembered as one of the most dynamic and admired poets of the twentieth century, Plath cultivated a literary community unlike any predecessor. Additionally, since a sizable portion of Plath’s work was read posthumously, her suicide brought the much needed attention to physiological illnesses. Unfortunately though, Sylvia Plath will never know the perennial impact she left from her distinguished works that have touched numerous lives.

Sylvia Plath was born in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts on October 27, 1932. Plath’s family moved to Winthrop, Massachusetts when she was four years old. When she was eight, her father, Otto Plath died, this was same year she published her first poem. Plath was a very hardworking, persistent student in high school. She was soon rewarded after her graduation with many published works and successes. Plath attended Smith College with two scholarships. At Smith, she excelled academically and achieved many things in her writing career. In the summer of 1953 she attempted suicide and went through different kinds of therapy. She soon recovered and earned a Fulbright scholarship to Cambridge. There she met her husband Ted Hughes, they soon had children together. Plath had to deal with many difficulties in her past and in her marriage. In 1963 Sylvia Plath attempted suicide once again and succeeded.

It is said that without melancholy there is no art, and there is no better embodiment of that than beloved poet and author, Sylvia Plath. Often referred to as one of the most dynamic poets of the 1900’s, Plath had no limits on her expression through poetry. Her poems ranged from flowing verses on nature to unconventional commentary on the social restrictions placed on individuals. She is most known for her poetic expression of her own mental anguish, never shying away from topics of death and despair.

Sylvia Plath, your life was not anything but hard, battling your depression many times. Your first suicide attempt, you were gone for days, your family scared on where you went; little did they know you right under their feet. You were found in the cellar of your home, dazed and covered in your own vomit. Your mother, Aurelia Plath, sent you to a mental institution. There, for the second time you had electroconvulsive therapy, the first being to try and cure your insomnia, your insomnia was the cause of stress, the stress of being a failure to everyone around you.

Suicide, depression, death--when one hears the name “Sylvia Plath”, these are the words that come to mind. It seems that her death is all she is remembered for. However, Plath's writing is much more than just a diary of her darkest thoughts and experiences. Plath's writing has much more depth; her lifetime of achievements should not be reduced to the final hours of her life. Plath is able to discuss her depression, while also addressing the hardships of the 1950’s and the difficult times she had to overcome throughout her life, which eventually lead to her depression and suicide. Sylvia Plath expresses her dissatisfaction regarding her own losses in “Daddy”, “Mirror”, and “Ariel” with the tumultuous times she was living in.

Sylvia Plath was a gifted writer, poet and verbal artist whose personal anguish and torment visibly manifested itself in her work. Much of her angst stems from her warped relationship with her father. Other factors that influenced her works were her strained views of human sexuality, her sado-masochistic tendencies, self-hatred and her traditional upbringing. She was labeled as a confessional poet and biographical and historical material is absolutely necessary to understand her work.

Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton are two very alike women. Both were born in Massachusetts, both wrote poetry, and both committed suicide. A common factor that particularly stands out in these two women is that they both suffered some form of mental problem, but they used that to transfer it onto their writing. It was because of their depression that they were able to be so successful in their writing careers. But even after having poems and books published, that wasn’t enough to satisfy their happiness. In the end, they searched for a way out, a way to end their mental suffering. To understand their poetry, we must first understand a little bit about their depression and the lives they lived.

When reading the poem “Lady Lazarus” for the first time, the subject matter can be a little difficult to comprehend. The title of this poem and the speaker share the same name, ultimately making connections to the poet

She describes him in a photograph she has, and says his cleft chin does not make her feel pity, and it does not change the fact that he is a devil (Mays 707). She writes in her poem that she was ten when they buried her father, and she was twenty when she tried to return to him (Mays 707). This would be referring to her first attempted suicide when she was in college when she hit one of the darkest times in her depression (“Sylvia Plath” 2016). The next line is describing her experience after her first attempt, “But they pulled me out of the sack, and stuck me together with glue. And then I knew what to do (Mays 707).” This is referring to her first suicide attempt and the recovery. Plath’s first suicide attempt was done by taking sleeping pills. She stole her mother’s sleeping pills, but they did not work. After she took them she hid under her mother’s house, and would not be found for three days. They then took her to the hospital and treated her with shock therapy (“Sylvia Plath” 2012). By referring to being pulled out of the “Sack” she is referring to them pulling her out from under the porch, and then they “glued” her back together, and this refers to her recovery. After her recovery, she claims she now knows what to

Sylvia Plath was a good woman and very gorgeous, one day who fell into a trench of depression, but continues living her life with feelings of depression. In many ways, she was like a grateful, dead flower in the garden. Solitary and pessimistic, she was full of bad intentions where she had attempted suicide many times. She had exemplified herself as a slow horse’s movement, and her writing was full of darkness and gloom due to rational isolation and threatening death. She believed in betrayal, in disappointing everyone around her, in hard work, and in the features of simplicity and multifaceted imageries. Like a death flower, Ms. Plath was also worried about her desolation. At the same time, she was very passionate for death.

Death is a ubiquitous reality in Plath’s poetry and manifests in different ways. The void created by the death of her father could be seen in some of her poems. In Full Fathom Five she speaks about his death, burial and mourning. In Colossus she tries in vain to put him back together again and make him speak. In Daddy she goes further in