Sylvia Plath was an American poet and writer who suffered from depression and committed suicide. Her only published novel, The Bell Jar, is autobiographical and explores the depression and angst of her adolescence. Plath studied society’s responses to ambition in women versus men through the character of Esther. She faced enormous pressure to earn enough from writing and experienced significant weight loss and insomnia. Plath committed suicide at the age of 31.
Sylvia Plath was an American poet and writer. She suffered from depression and eventually committed suicide. Plath is remembered for her poignant poems such as “Daddy and Mirror,” but she is also remembered for her powerful novel The Bell Jar.
The Bell Jar, originally published in 1963, was Sylvia Plath’s only published novel and is considered an American classic. The Bell Jar is, at least in part, autobiographical and Plath delves into the depression and angst of her own adolescence through the character of Esther. Esther wins a contest to be a guest editor for a major New York magazine and after, she Esther decides that she must become a writer.
Through her focus on pursuing her dream career, Esther questions, and sometimes doesn’t question, her views on morality and her own behavior. The Bell Jar takes a dark and honest look at a talented young woman who is trying to figure out who she is. Through the character of Esther, Plath studies society’s responses to ambition in women versus ambition in men.
Sylvia Plath was born on October 27, 1932 to hardworking parents. Plath graduated high school with straight As. She attended college on a scholarship and won another scholarship to Cambridge, England, to study poetry. While there, she met and married Ted Hughes, another poet. Sylvia and Ted were married in 1956 and had one son born in 1960 and another son born in 1962.
Plath followed her husband’s lead and left academia to become a freelance writer. She faced enormous pressure to earn enough from writing, especially as she tried to raise two young children. When Plath found out her husband was cheating on her, she added to her depression and growing sense of panic.
Plath had self-mutilated her legs by cutting herself and experienced significant weight loss and insomnia. She sought help from a psychiatrist, and she was reported to have confided that he tried to take her life when she was in her early twenties. Because the hospital beds were full at the time, the psychiatrist monitored her on an outpatient basis. Plath committed suicide at the age of 31 by placing her head in her own gas oven on February 11, 1963.
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