The Life of Sylvia Plath - 1006 Words

The Life of Sylvia Plath Sylvia Plaths life, like her manic depression, constantly jumped between Heaven and Hell. Her seemingly perfect exterior hid a turbulent and deeply troubled spirit. A closer look at her childhood and personal experiences removes some element of mystery from her writings. One central character to Sylvia Plaths poems is her father, Professor Otto Emile Plath. Otto Plath was diabetic and refused to stay away from foods restricted by his doctor. As a result , he developed a sore on his left foot. Professor Plath ignored the sore, and eventually the foot was overcome with gangrene. The foot and then the entire left leg were amputated in an effort to save his life, but he died in November of†¦show more content†¦Plath was left caring for two children in a low-income area of London during one of the coldest Novembers in centuries. She worked between four and eight in the morning. Apparently being inspired by hardship, Plath sometimes finished a poem every day. In her last poems, death is given a cruel and physical allure and pain becomes tangiible. Leaving some food and milk at the kitchen table for her children, she gassed herself to death. Ironically, the woman Ted Hughes left Sylvia Plath for another woman that would commit suicide by gas. Posthumous Publications include : Ariel, published in 1965, inspired a cult following. The poems were less uniform and more emotional than those published in Colossus. Other volumes are :Crossing the Water ( 1971) , Winter Trees (1971) , Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams (1977) , and The Collected Poems (1981) , which was edited by Ted Hughes. At the funeral of Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton said in a eulogy that she and Plath had talked death with burned-up intensity, both of us drawn to it like moths to an electric light bulb. Ever since the 1700s, suicide has been thought of, in some circles, a romantic way to die ( i.e. Romeo and Juliet). Some individuals also think that to take your own life will add to your artistic reputation.Johann Wolfgang von Goethes novel The Sorrows of Weather suggested that suicide is accepted from those with artistic temperament because artists areShow MoreRelatedThe Life Of Sylvia Plath Essay1313 Words   |  6 PagesThe Life of Sylvia Plath Sylvia Plath was a very dedicated author who lived from 1932-1963. She is best known for her poetry. Plath started writing and was a published poet at a very young age. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, Plath’s first poem was published when she was eight years old. â€Å"Plath’s poems explore her own mental anguish, her troubled marriage to fellow poet Ted Hughes, her unresolved conflicts with her parents, and her own vision of herself†(Poetry Foundation). Plath was a devotedRead MoreSylvia Plath s Life And Life1425 Words   |  6 Pagesor introspectively passive and sad or I can go mad by ricocheting in between.† (Goodreads, 2013) This is a quote from Sylvia Plath, a poet who faced many obstacles in her life including attempting suicide; getting divorced due to lies and infidelity; and leaving her children behind. Sylvia Plath was born on October 27, 1932 in Boston Massachusetts Plath’s father Otto Plath author of a book on bees. (The Famous People Website, 2013; About.com, 2013). Her father taught at Boston University, whereRead MoreSylvia Plath s Life And Life1209 Words   |  5 PagesAmerican poet Sylvia Plath once stated â€Å"eternity bores me, I never wanted it.† This quote, from her poem, â€Å"Years,† expressed that she did not want to live forever. It even suggested a foreshadowing of her suicide in 1963. This quote is also from one of her many poems, which were greatly influenced by her life. To learn how Plath’s life affected her writing, researchers studied main topics on her life and her works, including her early life, career, and literary works. To begin with, one of the topicsRead MoreSylvia Plath s Life And Life1229 Words   |  5 PagesAmerican poet Sylvia Plath once said â€Å"eternity bores me, I never wanted it.† This quote, from her poem, â€Å"Years,† expresses that she did not want to live forever. It might even suggest a foreshadowing of her suicide in 1963. This quote is also from one of her many poems, which are greatly influenced by her life. To learn how Plath’s life affected her writing, researchers study main topics on her life and her works, including her early life, career, and literary works. EARLY LIFE AND FAMILY HISTORYRead MoreLife And The Purpose Of Life By Sylvia Plath1800 Words   |  8 PagesSylvia Plath and Philip Larkin had very different outlooks on life and the purpose of life, Plath very much injected her personal experiences into her writing and was a passionate poet. Larkin was arguably a more realistic and observant poet, which in turn made him more pessimistic. Both poets explore the theme of fulfilment, Plath specifically through her poems ‘Morning Song’ and ‘Letters in November’, featured in her 1965 posthumous collection ‘Ariel’ and Larkin through his poems ‘Faith Healing’Read MoreThe Tragic Life of Sylvia Plath Essays1486 Words   |  6 PagesSylvia Plath Sylvia Plath, an open minded, free spirited author and poet of a variety of many pieces. All of Plath’s poems are inspired by her personal life and how she viewed it. According to Plath, â€Å"It is a feeling that no matter what the ideas or conduct of others, there is a unique rightness and beauty to life which can be shared in openness, in wind and sunlight, with a fellow human being who believes in the same basic principles† (Sylvia Quotes). Reveals and proves how free spiritedRead MoreSylvia Plath s Life And Accomplishments892 Words   |  4 PagesSylvia Plath was born in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts on October 27, 1932. Plath’s family moved to Winthrop, Massachusetts when she was four years old. When she was eight, her father, Otto Plath died, this was same year she published her first poem. Plath was a very hardworking, persistent student in high school. She was soon rewarded after her graduation with many published works and successes. Plath attended Smith College with two scholarships. At Smith, she excelled academically and achieved manyRead MoreSylvia Plath ´s Life and Literature1059 Words   |  4 Pages â€Å"If you expect nothing from anybody, you’re never disappointed† (Plath 20), are the insightful words of the adept dramatist Sylvia Plath. Sylvia’s formidable experiences as an adolescences and her vexing run-ins with others have shaped and molded her literature. Sylviaâ₠¬â„¢s praise is not only well deserved but is proven by each and every one of her impassioned poems about the human condition. The struggle of everyday life is shed in a unique way displaying the ache of intervention. Sylvia’s uniqueRead MoreSylvia Plath s Life And Accomplishments974 Words   |  4 PagesSylvia Plath’s work is marked with her trademark style, one full of enigmatic analogies and ambiguous metaphors. Sadly though, the life of Sylvia Plath was indeed shorter than anyone expected. Nevertheless, in the thirty years Plath meandered through the world, she left an everlasting impact. Remembered as one of the most dynamic and admired poets of the twentieth century, Plath cultivated a literary community unlike any predecessor. Additionally, since a sizable portion of Plath’s work was readRead MoreA Biography on the Life of Sylvia Plath Essay528 Words   |  3 PagesSylvia Plath was born on October 27, 1932 in Boston, Massachusetts. Her parents were Otto and Aurelia Plath. Plaths father, Otto, immigrated to America from Germany when he was just sixteen years old. He wanted to study ministry at the Northwestern College, which was a small Lutheran school. According to his wife, Aurelia, Otto changed his ambitions because he didnt feel a true calling for the ministry. He received a master of the arts from Washington University, and the doctor of science from