Research Paper On Sylvia Plath

Saying Sylvia Plath was a troubled woman would be an understatement. She was a dark poet, who attempted suicide many times, was hospitalized in a mental institution, was divorced with two children, and wrote confessional poems about fetuses, reflection, duality, and a female perspective on life. Putting her head in an oven and suffocating was probably the happiest moment in her life, considering she had wanted to die since her early twenties. However, one thing that was somewhat consistent throughout her depressing poetry would be the theme of the female perspective. The poems selected for analysis and comparison are, ”A Life”(1960),”You’re”(1960), “Mirror” (1961), “The Courage of Shutting-Up” (1962) and

Sylvia Plath was a troubled writer to say the least, not only did she endure the loss of her father a young age but she later on “attempted suicide at her home and was hospitalized, where she underwent psychiatric treatment” for her depression (Dunn). Writing primarily as a poet, she only ever wrote a single novel, The Bell Jar. This fictional autobiography “[chronicles] the circumstances of her mental collapse and subsequent suicide attempt” but from the viewpoint of the fictional protagonist, Esther Greenwood, who suffers the same loss and challenges as Plath (Allen 890). Due to the novel’s strong resemblance to Plath’s own history it was published under the pseudonym “Victoria Lucas”. In The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath expresses the

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”.

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 was the first person to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1982,and she is well known for her poems “daddy”. Sadly Plath committed suicide,but before she killed herself she left a note for one of her neighbors to tell them to get a doctor and when they found her she was lying in the oven with wet towels covering the door so her children wouldn't die from the gas to. Plath’s husband Hughes published most of her poems or novels that weren’t published because she had committed suicide at such an early age. It’s because of Hughes publishing her works that she won the Pulitzer Prize in 1982 but she was too late for her to claim it because she was dead 20 something years or so. Plath achieved this from studying with the one and only Robert Lowwell which she made her famous Colossus

Sylvia Plath was an American author and poet. Her death at the age of 30 by suicide was the end of her long struggle with mental illness throughout her life, chronicled in her most famous work, her fictional, but inspired by her life novel, The Bell Jar, cited for its feminist themes and exploration of mental illness. Plath is considered one of the greatest poets and novelists of the 20th century, whose works were influenced by her mental illnesses, and still have relevance today.

Throughout the poem, Plath contradicts herself, saying, ‘I was seven, I knew nothing’ yet she constantly talks of the past, remembering. Her tone is very

Elizabeth Winder’s Pain, Parties, Work: Sylvia Plath in New York, Summer 1953 illuminates different aspects of Sylvia Plath’s life. However, Winder depicts Plath not as the mythologized martyr of a collapsed marriage or the tragic woman poet with a debilitating illness but rather as a young girl wanting to immerse herself in the rich, material culture of her time. Winder’s biography gives insight to the life of an intelligent young woman amidst the gender constraints of mid-century America, a theme that is further explicated in Plath’s novel, The Bell Jar.

Sylvia Plath was an unusual write during the 1950’s. She uses a giant amount if imagery, and clear diction throughout her poems. She went to Smith College on a scholarship. Then, Plath received the Fulbright Grant which she used to study at the Cambridge University in England. She suffered a major mental breakdown and attempted suicide during her junior and senior year in high school. Furthermore, her parent names were Otto Plath and Aurelia Plath. Her father passed away when Plath was eight years old from gangrene. He was born in Poland and was Germany. On the other hand, her mother supported Plath dreams. Moreover, she married Ted Hughes, who was a writer, and they lived in England. Plath and Hughes had their first child together in 1960

parents, and how she saw herself. Whether Plath wrote about nature or someone else, she

In 1935, when Plath was three, she welcomed a baby brother, Warren. Shortly after, Plath's little brother was born the family moved to Winthrop, Massachusetts (thefamouspeople). Sadly when Plath was eight, her father died from complication of diabetes(Poets). After her father's death she lost her faith in God and remained irresolute about her religion. During this time, she wrote the poem "Electra on Azalea Plath", which was inspired by visits to her father's grave(Thefamouspeople). Plath continued to make more poetry and earned a scholarship to Smith College in 1950. However, Plath's junior year in college, she made her first suicide attempt by overdosing on sleeping pills. After six month of intense shock therapy, Plath returned to Smith College and later earned a Fulbright Scholarshp to Newhnham College in Cambridge.(Wagner-Martin 1). While at Cambridge, Plath met another poet who she fell

While doing this research on Sylvia Plath , my range of authors I actually like has expanded. Learning that many authors suffer from mental illness leading to there work. While Sylvia's work was quite interesting and soul touching. She was suffering and nobody saw that, and if it was seen no action to help her was taken. However she has definitely grown my liking for poetry. Making me view poetry as an art. Her way of words were so smooth and touching. It was impossible for me to read a full poem of Sylvia's without relating in some kind of way. She made poems that are still interesting to this day. She is one of those authors that can never be forgot , her work is very legendary. Considering that putting your emotions, anger and pain into

The composition of texts during the post-bomb period are influenced by a chaotic and shifting atmosphere which compelled composer’s to reclaim the self from controlling forces within a patriarchal society. Sylvia Plath’s poetry serves as a manifestation of her feminist expression as a composer and intent desire to reclaim her personal identity and resultantly assert her power in a restrictive and patriarchal society, as witnessed in her captivating poems Fever 103° and Lady Lazarus.

Sylvia Plath was a very dedicated author who lived from 1932-1963. She is best known for her poetry. Plath started writing and was a published poet at a very young age. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, Plath’s first poem was published when she was eight years old. “Plath’s poems explore her own mental anguish, her troubled marriage to fellow poet Ted Hughes, her unresolved conflicts with her parents, and her own vision of herself”(Poetry Foundation). Plath was a devoted English student in high school. She performed so well in English that she was awarded a merit scholarship for Smith College where, eventually, she went on to pursue a degree in English. She was often referred to as “The Golden Girl” by her professors and her peers. It is also a well-known fact that she struggled immensely with depression. Some setbacks with her mental health forced her to take a break from college and graduate a year late. She eventually graduated from Smith College with highest honors in English. She took time off of school because she suffered from a mental breakdown. She had disappeared for a few days and was found close to death. She had attempted suicide and was hospitalized immediately. Several years and many attempts later, Plath was successful in taking her own life at the young age of 30. Plath’s constant struggle with depression showed up in her poems time and time again. Her writing very clearly reflected off of her life. Sylvia Plath lived a life

In Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy,” and “Lady Lazarus,” Plath displays her deepest emotions and concerns. Her beliefs completely contradicts her fathers so she has to deal with a lot of negative emotions throughout her life. Both of these poems were both written at the end of Plath’s life and really show her state of mind. Throughout her poems, we are able to see the motivation behind her feelings and her suicide attempts. “Daddy,” and “Lady Lazarus,” by Sylvia Plath are the closing notes to Plath’s grudges towards her father, her husband, and many other things.