Sylvia Plath Biography

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.

After the affair Plath grew increasingly depressed and eventually committed suicide. He said that “Plaths death was inevitable, she had been on that track most of her life,” but he could not contend with the additional suicide of Wevill in 1969, which he said was “utterly within her power, and it was an outcome of her reaction to Sylvia’s action,” which led to Wevill’s suicide.” These past horrific experiences strongly affected Hughes future relationships and poetry.

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’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.

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

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.

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.

Even at a young age, Sylvia Plath was motivated and determined to be successful. She was only eight years old when her first poem “What I See and Hear on Hot Summer Nights” was published in The Boston Herold. After the death of her father, the family was forced to move from their home near the ocean as a result of financial problems. Caroline King Barnard Hall states that:

Sylvia Plath in this chapter even elaborated the suicide attempt by Esther with anecdote about skiing. She even considered the possibility that she

When Plath was only eight years old, her father died from complications of diabetes. He was

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