Often described as a perfectionist, Sylvia Plath was an enviable, popular, academically successful college student when her losing battle with depression began. Having published her first poem at eight years old, Plath was a writer at her core, and her journey with mental illness can be revealed and analyzed in her writing which gave Plath a method of coping with and externalizing her many debilitating anxieties. In her many published poems, stories, and essays Plath covers topics on identity, depression, love, and death. This paper will explore aspects of Sylvia Plath 's literary voice that set her a part, examine how those devices are working towards the ultimate message of her writing, and present possible contributing factors to the development
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Plath presents this phenomena again in the story "Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams" stating that there is "No place for you but a room padded soft as the first room you knew of, where you can dream and float, float and dream, till at last you actually are back among those great originals and there’s no point in any dreams at all" (Plath 159). This quote gives a clear sense that Plath believed her downfall was inevitable, but she also seems to be comforted by the idea of a fall that allowed her to "fall no farther" (Plath …show more content…
Plath had few options available to her and her overwhelming mental and emotional state hung, like a bell jar, “suspended” over her head at times trapping her to suffocate in her own despair, and occasionally the jar lifting, gifting Plath with sweet relief and fresh air. On the exterior, Plath was an intelligent, ambitious, and passionate girl who was too sensitive for her own good. She effortlessly hosted a facade of perfection and achievement all the while losing a fatal battle in her own mind. Even though Plath suffered from depression for most of her short life, the desire to get better was also very present. She spent her life searching for beauty and insight in all aspects of her life. Her writing shows sufficient effort to learn more about herself and how she fit into the world around her with the hope that one day all of the answers to being happy would reveal themselves, and she would no longer live her life through the glass of a bell
Plath presents this phenomena again in the story "Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams" stating that there is "No place for you but a room padded soft as the first room you knew of, where you can dream and float, float and dream, till at last you actually are back among those great originals and there’s no point in any dreams at all" (Plath 159). This quote gives a clear sense that Plath believed her downfall was inevitable, but she also seems to be comforted by the idea of a fall that allowed her to "fall no farther" (Plath …show more content…
Plath had few options available to her and her overwhelming mental and emotional state hung, like a bell jar, “suspended” over her head at times trapping her to suffocate in her own despair, and occasionally the jar lifting, gifting Plath with sweet relief and fresh air. On the exterior, Plath was an intelligent, ambitious, and passionate girl who was too sensitive for her own good. She effortlessly hosted a facade of perfection and achievement all the while losing a fatal battle in her own mind. Even though Plath suffered from depression for most of her short life, the desire to get better was also very present. She spent her life searching for beauty and insight in all aspects of her life. Her writing shows sufficient effort to learn more about herself and how she fit into the world around her with the hope that one day all of the answers to being happy would reveal themselves, and she would no longer live her life through the glass of a bell