Essay about Sylvia Plath: A Novelist and her Brief Life

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

October 27th in 1932, Sylvia Plath was born, to parents Otto Plath and Aurelia Schober Plath. One of the

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.

Sadly she 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

Plath was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on October 27th, 1932 (“Sylvia Plath” 1). She was an only child for just two years when her brother Warren was born, and it was at this time, her family moved to Winthrop, Massachusetts due to financial reasons. Winthrop is located on a peninsula and it was days spent on the docks where Plath became infatuated by the sea, which is apparent in her novel, The Bell Jar (Steinberg 1). Plath’s parents were Otto Emil Plath and Aurelia Schober Plath. Otto taught Biology and German at Boston University and was also a distinguished author. Unfortunately in 1940, he suddenly died of cancer, which ultimately haunted Sylvia and scarred her for the rest of her life. Due to the loss of income, Plath’s mother, Aurelia, began

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.

Sylvia Plath, a very talented writer and poet, focuses on two very prominent themes in her works: death, specifically suicide, and suffering. In her only novel, The Bell Jar, the protagonist, Esther Greenwood, takes the reader on a journey that explores the life and struggles of a young female poet and a tragic heroine. Esther's experiences reflect those of Sylvia Plath's. Plath describes her life as she saw it, confessing her thoughts and feelings to her audience. In her poems, "Perseus", "Lorelei", and "Lady Lazarus", Plath further explores the themes of death and suffering, and uses the portrayal of the tragic heroes/heroines in "Perseus" as symbolism.

Most of the time poems are written to have a deeper meaning rather than only having a literal meaning which allows the writer to tell an idea or reveal deeper emotions they have. Several poems written by Sylvia Plath were written with a deeper meaning as a way to admit her profound emotions. Throughout Plath's life she suffered from severe depression which in turn impacted many of her poems. Her husband, Ted Hughes, was also having an affair with another woman which worsened her depression. A year later Plath's depression got the best of her and she committed suicide in 1963. Her poem "Cut" was written close to her death and thus contains her pain and deep emotions. Within "Cut" Plath details the experience of cutting her thumb, she compares the pain she felt to the pain she has had throughout her life and the pain people suffered from during events

In fact, Sylvia Plath’s depression, her relationship with Ted Hughes, and her German roots and culture are all reflected in her poetry. One aspect of Plath's life reflected in her poetry is her depression. Plath became depressed in 1953 when she learned she had not been accepted into

She began at the age of eleven until her death at the age of thirty writing journals filled with her poetry as well as her more personal and morbid thoughts. For example, in this quote, “I am afraid. I am not solid, but hollow. I feel behind my eyes a numb, paralyzed cavern, a pit of hell, a mimicking nothingness. I never thought. I never wrote, I never suffered. I want to kill myself, to escape from responsibility, to draw back abjectly into the womb. I do not know who I am, where I am going…” (Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath), Plath discusses her feelings emotional numbness, and of never wanting to have lived or suffered. After her death her journals were published, by her husband, English poet Ted Hughes, along with many other poems she had not yet

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 born October 27, 1932 in Boston, Massachusetts, to Otto Plath who was a

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

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

Sylvia is best known for The Colossus, Ariel, and possibly her most controversial writing The Bell Jar (Learner1&2). Sylvia was the first poet to be posthumously awarded the Pulitzer Prize for her Collected Poems (Archive1). I want to believe that if Plath received this award when she was alive, it would have dampened her depression and make her rethink suicide. Sylvia Plath had a major part in the battle for feminism because she had such a difficult time conforming to the wife and mother roles in her life (Learner1). I think that Sylvia did not want to be a part of the feminist movement, but instead she was just handling her problems the only way she knew, through writing about them. Numerous people speculate what sent Sylvia over the edge. Some possibilities are the feminist movement using her as an icon, Hughes’ infidelity, or her father dying when she was at such a young age (Archive1). I think that Plath’s suicide had something to do with her being the jump starter for a movement and also not being able to please or satisfy her husband, which in her era was one of the most important roles in women’s