Sylvia Plath

TimK — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 10:55:31 -0800

At the age of 20, Sylvia Plath tried for the first time to commit suicide. Her recovery was hard, but she got back up on her feet. Three years later, she entered a deep depression. Of course, back then, in 1956, if you were a 23-year-old unmarried woman, you were either a widow or an old maid. Sylvia was not a widow.

But from a young age, she was a writer. She wrote many poems, but she’s most famous for her only novel, The Bell Jar. The story of the novel Sylvia based on part of her own life. It’s about a woman named Esther, a writer who becomes depressed and can’t sleep. As she her condition worsens, she tries twice to suicide, unsuccessfully.

In June 1956, Sylvia married Ted Hughes. They had two children, but he slept around, devastating her. In September 1962, they separated, though most of Sylvia’s friends and family wanted a divorce. In January 1963, The Bell Jar was first published. The next month, Sylvia Plath took her own life.

From SylviaPlath.info:

She placed her head in a gas oven after completely sealing the rooms between herself and her children. She left a note for the man who lived downstairs, Mr. Trevor Thomas, to call her doctor. The gas seeped through the floor and knocked Mr. Thomas out cold for several hours. An au pair girl was to arrive at nine o’clock that morning to help Plath with the care of her children. Arriving promptly at 9, the au pair could not get into the flat. It has been suggested that Plath’s timing and planning of this suicide attempt was too precise, too coincidental. She had previously asked Mr. Thomas what time he would be leaving. Plath must have turned the gas on at a time when Mr. Thomas should have been waking and beginning his day. A note was placed that read, “Call. Dr Horder,” and left his phone number. These measures were too time-sensitive and could have saved Plath’s life if events followed her logic. Living apart from her husband Ted Hughes, living in one of the worst English winters on record, this was Sylvia Plath’s last cry for help.

In the last months of her life, she wrote a collection of poems, entitled Ariel, called by some Plath’s greatest collection of poems.

In 2003, Christine Jeffs directed a film dramatization, called Sylvia, of Sylvia Plath’s life with Ted Hughes, through to her death.

Read more about The Bell Jar (P.S.) by Sylvia Plath at Amazon.

Read more about Ariel: Perennial Classics Edition (Perennial Classics) by Sylvia Plath at Amazon.

Read more about The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath by Sylvia Plath at Amazon.

Gilmore-isms that refer to Sylvia Plath

LORELAI: Honey, why don’t you just stay home and read The Bell Jar? Same effect. (Episode 117)
LORELAI: Hm, might send the wrong message. (Episode 303)
RORY: Have you read The Bell Jar? (Episode 411)
LORELAI: Hey, did anyone ever think that maybe Sylvia Plath wasn't crazy, she was just cold? (Episode 413)

The Bell Jar (P.S.)
author: Sylvia Plath
asin: 0060837020

Ariel: Perennial Classics Edition (Perennial Classics)
author: Sylvia Plath
asin: 0060931728

The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath
author: Sylvia Plath
asin: 0385720254

Sylvia
asin: B00005JMJD

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Sylvia Plath

Gilmore-isms that refer to Sylvia Plath

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