Tragedy throughout the lives of writers appears to be a universal motif and alarming phenomenon for scholars in the disciplines of english and psychology. Dr. James C. Kaufman, a psychologist, is not the exception to this statement. In 2001, Kaufman attempted to explain the psychological reasoning behind the tragedy that haunts novelists/poets; while doing this, he coined the term “The Sylvia Plath Effect” to describe the recurring circumstance that eminent female poets are more susceptible to suffer from mental illness than any other sort of creative writer. This hypothesis, not only extremely revealing and explanatory to the lives of certain poets such as Sylvia Plath and Virginia Woolf -both present in this research, has yet to be tested
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The author evaluates the idea that eminent artist tend to be more creative and questioned because the uncertainty of their abilities is shadowed by fame. However, as seen by author Arnold Ludwig in 1995, at least twenty-five percent of eminent poets attempted suicide out of 1000 writers surveyed (Ludwig). Runco’s perspective on Plath’s, and maybe most of these writers’ as well, intentions behind suicide attempts are as simple as a high investment and high risk of loss effect.2 As seen in Sutherland’s recounts of Plath’s life, she had been an avid writer since her young years and “tepid reviews, it is suggested, may have been one factor in her decision to destroy herself” (Sutherland 672). Likewise, the researcher’s claim of high investment-risk is supported by Plath’s life, as well as his theory that “immersion and devotion to a subject” may be plausible reasons for suicide attempts (Runco 640). As a young woman, Sylvia had immersed herself and devoted to the subject of writing -this defines the investment; writing is subject to criticism, as seen in Sutherland’s recounts -the risk of loss/criticism/rejection; rewards are almost never seen, as a writer her psychoeconomic investment was destructive.3 However, it seems like the psychoeconomic status reveals that creativity drives life, which means that as life progressed for Sylvia -and Woolf, to be later discussed, her investment in writing …show more content…
However, Woolf’s life was also repleted with tragedy, she lost her father, mother, and sister in a period of less than fifteen years; she was also molested by her stepbrother as a young woman. Woolf’s life fits perfectly into the criteria of Kaufman’s characteristics for proneness for mental health issues, she had -as believed- a schizophrenic personality and her life was the personal tragedy. According to Lestienne, “Often pondered is the connection between Woolf’s and Plath’s extraordinary creativity and poetry and their mental illnesses. Some biographers have even suggested that Woolf suffered from schizophrenia and Plath from bipolarity” (343). Lestienne corroborates Kaufman’s hypotheses previously explained, the triangle of eminent females writers boils down to: Creativity, fiction -poetry, and mental illness. Despite not all female poets suffering from mental illness, those who are transcendent and relevant today appear to suffer from the affliction.5 However, despite the hypotheses being proven, the question to be addressed after setting the platform for the last author studied
The author evaluates the idea that eminent artist tend to be more creative and questioned because the uncertainty of their abilities is shadowed by fame. However, as seen by author Arnold Ludwig in 1995, at least twenty-five percent of eminent poets attempted suicide out of 1000 writers surveyed (Ludwig). Runco’s perspective on Plath’s, and maybe most of these writers’ as well, intentions behind suicide attempts are as simple as a high investment and high risk of loss effect.2 As seen in Sutherland’s recounts of Plath’s life, she had been an avid writer since her young years and “tepid reviews, it is suggested, may have been one factor in her decision to destroy herself” (Sutherland 672). Likewise, the researcher’s claim of high investment-risk is supported by Plath’s life, as well as his theory that “immersion and devotion to a subject” may be plausible reasons for suicide attempts (Runco 640). As a young woman, Sylvia had immersed herself and devoted to the subject of writing -this defines the investment; writing is subject to criticism, as seen in Sutherland’s recounts -the risk of loss/criticism/rejection; rewards are almost never seen, as a writer her psychoeconomic investment was destructive.3 However, it seems like the psychoeconomic status reveals that creativity drives life, which means that as life progressed for Sylvia -and Woolf, to be later discussed, her investment in writing …show more content…
However, Woolf’s life was also repleted with tragedy, she lost her father, mother, and sister in a period of less than fifteen years; she was also molested by her stepbrother as a young woman. Woolf’s life fits perfectly into the criteria of Kaufman’s characteristics for proneness for mental health issues, she had -as believed- a schizophrenic personality and her life was the personal tragedy. According to Lestienne, “Often pondered is the connection between Woolf’s and Plath’s extraordinary creativity and poetry and their mental illnesses. Some biographers have even suggested that Woolf suffered from schizophrenia and Plath from bipolarity” (343). Lestienne corroborates Kaufman’s hypotheses previously explained, the triangle of eminent females writers boils down to: Creativity, fiction -poetry, and mental illness. Despite not all female poets suffering from mental illness, those who are transcendent and relevant today appear to suffer from the affliction.5 However, despite the hypotheses being proven, the question to be addressed after setting the platform for the last author studied