The Immeasurable Impact of Sylvia Plath
"Her voice, once she found it, was too strong, too strange, not to have struck a note of challenge, her life too brief and intense not to have been packages as that of yet another doomed female genius." (Katha Pollit) Sylvia Plath is a controversial female writer that is still being speculated over to this day, shrouded in mystery and known to have met an abrupt and painful end. One simple thing cannot be refuted: she continues to offer a voice for women and their struggles even after her death. How can such a lasting influence come from such a tragic life of self-loathing? Plath’s plethora of work continues to be impactful to women due to the use of topics such as misogynistic society, mental health, …show more content…
Sylvia struggled with mental health herself, often channeling her sadness into new works. The period leading up to Plath’s suicide was one of intense creativity, leading many to speculate that her depression played a role in her success. “Was she sane? Was she mad? The psychiatrists wondered if her depression was neurotic or psychotic.” The main character from “The Bell Jar” is similar to her in this way, often falling into fits of depression, even breaking into tears when a photographer asks her what she imagines herself doing in the future. Is there a young woman in this world who hasn’t experienced this mental stress? In a social environment with tremendous pressure placed on women, Esther (The Bell Jar) has a tumultuous relationship with food. She consumes luxurious foods but goes through the “cleansing” act of purging. Women in the 50’s were expected to solely cook the food and not necessarily enjoy it, a social concept demonstrated through Esther’s bulimia. The main character's fixation on binging and purging serves as a metaphor for consumer capitalism that women face on a daily basis in advertisements. During her stay at a psychiatric hospital, Esther's mother visits and repeatedly insures that she can choose to not be depressed any longer. Her unrelenting outlook on her daughter's mental illness is a common experience that many young adults suffering from depression can relate to today. Through the account of a girl with a mental illness she illustrates an honest portrayal of societal influence on women. A concept that is highly prominent in her works is the idea of a revolt, the rebellion against female standards through change. This is not always healthy, and many standards for the female body are refuted through self-mutilation and eating disorders. The simple fact that women are forced to agree with everything leaves them with an urge to disagree in
"Her voice, once she found it, was too strong, too strange, not to have struck a note of challenge, her life too brief and intense not to have been packages as that of yet another doomed female genius." (Katha Pollit) Sylvia Plath is a controversial female writer that is still being speculated over to this day, shrouded in mystery and known to have met an abrupt and painful end. One simple thing cannot be refuted: she continues to offer a voice for women and their struggles even after her death. How can such a lasting influence come from such a tragic life of self-loathing? Plath’s plethora of work continues to be impactful to women due to the use of topics such as misogynistic society, mental health, …show more content…
Sylvia struggled with mental health herself, often channeling her sadness into new works. The period leading up to Plath’s suicide was one of intense creativity, leading many to speculate that her depression played a role in her success. “Was she sane? Was she mad? The psychiatrists wondered if her depression was neurotic or psychotic.” The main character from “The Bell Jar” is similar to her in this way, often falling into fits of depression, even breaking into tears when a photographer asks her what she imagines herself doing in the future. Is there a young woman in this world who hasn’t experienced this mental stress? In a social environment with tremendous pressure placed on women, Esther (The Bell Jar) has a tumultuous relationship with food. She consumes luxurious foods but goes through the “cleansing” act of purging. Women in the 50’s were expected to solely cook the food and not necessarily enjoy it, a social concept demonstrated through Esther’s bulimia. The main character's fixation on binging and purging serves as a metaphor for consumer capitalism that women face on a daily basis in advertisements. During her stay at a psychiatric hospital, Esther's mother visits and repeatedly insures that she can choose to not be depressed any longer. Her unrelenting outlook on her daughter's mental illness is a common experience that many young adults suffering from depression can relate to today. Through the account of a girl with a mental illness she illustrates an honest portrayal of societal influence on women. A concept that is highly prominent in her works is the idea of a revolt, the rebellion against female standards through change. This is not always healthy, and many standards for the female body are refuted through self-mutilation and eating disorders. The simple fact that women are forced to agree with everything leaves them with an urge to disagree in