Sylvia Plath: Another Sad Subject (Part One): Sylvia Plath

» pamela_saint - Sylvia Plath

I'm a bit of a Sylvia fan, having first learned about her out of curiosity as a fellow Smithie wanting to know more about the mysterious poet. Afterward, I read a lot of her work and came to admire and appreciate her talent and her determination.

I agree that Plath wrote predominately because she felt compelled to write--it was simply part of her core self; however, I think she was equally driven by the prospect of fame. When she was young, she specifically fashioned her short stories to meet the market the magazines targeted. Even The Bell Jar she considered to be simply a "pot boiler." In her journals or her letters home to her mother (I forget which), she remarks confidently that her last batch of poems (the Ariel collection) would make her famous.

There's a terrific web site, The Sylvia Plath Forum (http://www.hebdenbridge.co.uk/plath/inde... where debates rage and polite discussions ensue on Plath, her life and her work. It also includes numerous links and a valuable page devoted to her poems where people share their insights about her poetry.

Incidentally, electro shock therapy, believe it or not, continues to be used today, quite popularly, to treat depression. It has evolved, however, so that it's not the same as Plath experienced it where, as she suggests in The Bell Jar, it was like "being burned alive all along your nerves."

When I first became familiar with Plath, I felt oddly protective of her and, like you, felt that Hughes was a bit of a monster. However, I don't feel the same anymore. I'm sure that each was "monstrous" to some degree (who among us are angels?!) and not easy to live with since they were both competitive artists and strong willed personalities. I think it's tragic that Hughes had to experience two wives' suicides, and the tragedy is compounded by the fact that his second wife killed their daughter alongside her. I wonder what about his personality was attracted to such vulnerable women? I do agree that it was unfortunate that the husband from whom she was seeking a divorce became Plath's literary executor. I'm not sure her best interests were at stake, no matter how well intentioned Hughes may have thought himself to be (especially in light of the fact that he admits to destroying some of her journals).

I enjoyed your article. I hope it piques others' interest in Plath.

-- posted by pamela_saint