“Though Plath did not become famous during her lifetime, she would in the years following her death, as a quasi-cultish audience—the sort that rarely forms around an author, living or dead—bought almost anything written by her. Indeed, in her “second,” and posthumous life it was as if Plath had not died at all” (335).
I chose this as the quote of the book because it shows how even though Sylvia Plath suffered a miserable daunting life, which ultimately ended in a horrible and sudden death – her spirit went on and her existence continued to effect others long after her tragic departure. Her pain and heartache resulted in some of the most renowned and powerful pieces of writing ever. Though her life was unpleasant, her lasting impression on the world and literature overpowers over her suicide.
Connections
One connection I see in this novel is the connection between Sylvia Plath and her opposition against being the typical 1950’s housewife. However, even though Sylvia Plath wanted to be a strong, independent woman, her husband tried to force her to fit into the role of a good housewife. He wanted her to perform “normal” womanly duties and resented her when she tried to fight back or stand up for herself. The connection between the typical life of the 1950’s is more clearly shown by Plath’s husband, Ted Hughes, who was, in essence, the typical 1950’s male chauvinist man. An example of Hughes’s desire for power over his wife is shown by this quote: “Ted had recently humiliated Sylvia in front of Marcia and Mike Plummer; he accused her of refusing to sew buttons on his shirts and of tearing up his worn-out socks. Later, in private, when Sylvia demanded to know why he had degraded her in front of her friends, Ted told her that by scolding her he hoped to force her to perform these minor tasks in the future” (226).
This quote shows how Hughes’s wanted Sylvia to be a good housewife. This is the typical mentality of a husband in the 1950’s. Plath's opposition to his requests show how she wanted to break free of the mold of the typical 1950's housewife.
The other connection that I see is between Sylvia Plath and many people who grow up to be criminals, murderers, or deeply disturbed individuals. Most of these people are the way they are because of events that occurred early in their development. Sylvia Plath lost hope for life at a very young age, after her father died. “Since the children were already upstairs asleep, Aurelia decided to wait until morning to break the news to them. When she told Sylvia, who had been sitting up in bed reading a book, Sylvia blurted out, “I’ll never speak to God again,” and pulled her blanket over her head” (32).
This quote shows how Sylvia Plath’s childhood was very traumatizing and resulted in her losing faith in life and humanity at a very young age, the same mentality that stayed with her throughout the rest of her life. This resulted in her being a very emotionally unstable person. In the end of her life, she was a murderer, even if it was herself that she murdered. Not only did she have the potential and drive to harm herself, occasionally, her anger and frustrations could be released on other people. “The aftershock of the fight lasted for days. As a result of the confrontation, Sylvia understood something disturbing. Under certain circumstances, she could become so violent that she could kill another person, or herself” (219). This quote shows how Plath was violent by nature, which manifested from years of grief. This same idea, that difficult childhoods result in emotionally unstable people is extremely common. One of the most famous and vicious murderers of all time was Charles Manson, who’s childhood involved abandonment from his father, an alcoholic and prostitute mother, and various forms of abuse throughout his childhood.
The final connection I can draw from the biography of Plath’s life is that her most famous piece of writing was a direct relation to her life. Like Esther, Plath excelled in school and was praised for her writing ability. This caused both women to obtain the position of an editor for a woman’s magazine and live in New York. This experience is what caused them to realize that they were different from everyone else, and no matter what circumstance they were in, they could never be happy. “Moreover, she had been traumatized by her month in New York. There had been all these girls who had been encouraged to use a more affective part of themselves than she had been encouraged to use—and yet what she saw was a low-level, stereotypical, superficial version of that. This left her with no place to go” (130). This quote explains how Plath became lost and confused when she lived in New York because she could not relate to the other women. She believed they were too superficial, which is the exact belief that Esther held in The Bell Jar. This sent them both into a deep depression, which caused Esther to have a suicide attempt, and Plath to simply fall deeper into depression which, later in her life, resulted in her suicide.
Visual representation
I chose this picture as the visual representation of this book because the main thing that her life is remembered for is the fact that it ended with suicide. Most people know little else about her besides this, and the fact that she died in this way is probably what brought her even more fame and made her writing even more powerful. Her death was a result of everything that happened in her life and explains the gravity of her work. Also, the quote on her grave represents the fact that though her life was full of disasters and catastrophes, represented by the fierce flames, and her lasting impact and radiance on the world is represented by the golden lotus.
Questions:
What role did religion/spirituality play in Plath’s life?
Was the majority of Sylvia Plath’s depression due to a mental illness or due to her life events?
Would most people consider Sylvia Plath to be a feminist?
Was her suicide due to one or a couple of events in particular or an accumulation of everything that had occurred in her life?
Reflection
I found this biography on Sylvia Plath to be very fascinating. Paul Alexander had a very clear understanding of Plath’s life from multiple points of view – which is due to the fact that he interviewed over 200 people in the process of writing this biography. The novel does not only account her personal struggles that led to her self destruction but also clearly describes all other aspects and relationships that resulted in her depression. I also like how the novel if a purely objective account and tells of everything from her family history, to her childhood, adolescene, and adulthood. This book helped me better understand Slvia Plath and who she really was: a loving mother, a fierce lover and companion, and a deeply brilliant woman. This novel left me with a sense of compassion for Plath and a complete understanding for her writing.
