Sylvia Plath

Her Life

Sylvia Plath was born on October 27, 1932 in Jamaica Plain, MA to Otto and Aurelia Plath. Three years later her younger brother, Warren was born. After moving to Winthrop, MA, Sylvia's father died from a diabetic condition. Sylvia was 8 years old. The loss of her father at such an early age later influenced much of her poetry. Sylvia enrolled at Smith College in 1950. Throughout her college years she suffered from intense depression. After attending Harvard Summer School, she returned to Smith College and graduated summa cum laude and with honors for her poetry. The following winter, she attended Newnham as a Fulbright scholar at Cambridge University. At a party in February of 1956, Sylvia and Ted Hughes began their relationship. Four months later they were married and honeymooning in Spain. The following year, she and Ted returned to the U.S. and she began teaching at her alma mater. In 1960, she and Ted return to England where on April 1, 1960 they celebrated the birth of Frieda Rebecca. In October, The Colossus was published, Sylvia's first published collection. 1962 was an unhappy year, Syvia suffered a miscarriage followed by an apendectomy. On January 17, 1962, Nicholas Farrar is born. Nine months later, Sylvia and Ted separate. Ted had been having an affair. In 1963, Sylvia's only novel, the autobiographical The Bell Jar was published under the pseudonym, Victoria Lucas. Sylvia never saw what a wild success and study it became. She committed suicide on February 11, a month later, in her London flat.

Her Work

Sylvia's published literary career began when Mademoiselle published "Sunday at the Mintons'," a short story. Sylvia spent the summer of 1953 as a guest managing editor at Mademoiselle magaine in New York City. Much of this experience is documented in her only novel, The Bell Jar. Most of her work is made up of her collections of poetry. Her work lives on today, decades after her death, as poetical genious and the inspiration to many. The following are the titles of her works.

The Colossus and Other Poems
Ariel
Crossing the Water
Winter Trees
Collected Poems
The Bell Jar
Letters Home
The Journals of Sylvia Plath
Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams
and children's books, The Bed Book and The It-Doesn't-Matter-Suit

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Her Family

Sylvia, her mother, Aurelia, and younger brother, Warren.	Sylvia and Ted
Sylvia with Frieda Rebecca and Nicholas Farrar	Sylvia's father, Otto Plath.

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Her Death

Throughout her life, Sylvia's constant depression led her to attempt suicide on more than one occasion. She once tried to drive her car over an incline, failing to cause much injury. During college, with her boyfriend, she went downhill skiing with no previous instruction. Syvia writes of this experience in The Bell Jar. She decided to go down a very advanced slope, but ended up with a broken leg and not her actual goal. On August 24, 1953, Sylvia's most serious attempt occurred at her mother's Wellesley home. Also described in her novel, Sylvia left a note to her mother claiming to have gone for a walk. Instead, she broke into the strong box holding her medications and closed herself into a hole in the basement wall and took the pills. Search parties were sent out, but she was found by her brother, Warren, when he heard her groans a day later. A decade later, Sylvia finally succeeded. On February 11th, she sealed off the room of her sleeping children, leaving them bread and milk by their cribs. She then committed suicide by gas stove. Years later, Ted Hughes' second wife did the same, taking the life of her and Ted's daughter also. There is rumored to be another novel that Sylvia was in the process of writing. At her death, this and other written details of her life disappeared. After Ted Hughes' death, a second edition of her journals was published including many details that were previously excluded. Sylvia's headstone has been vandalized and replaced many times. Her fans find it unjust to have her name written as Sylvia Plath Hughes, and chisel the Hughes from the stone.

"Even Amidst Fierce Flames, the Golden Lotus can be Planted"

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Fore more information, please email Candice Clarke

Her Life

Her Work

Her Family

Her Death

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