Sylvia Plath Essay

Sylvia Plath had a troubled life. She tried to commit suicide once, but failed. She ended up marrying and having two kids, but the marriage ended in divorce. She later tried to commit suicide again, this time she succeeded. As seen in the poem Mirror, if we aren’t content with our reflection or focus too much on finding ourselves through the mirror, we will end up losing ourselves and never find happiness, just like Plath. We need to find ourselves without looking in the mirror, because if…

The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath is about a girl named Esther who is a young women from the suburbs in Boston. She is working for an editor in New York interning at a magazine during the summer. She feels like she doesn’t fit in or belong with society and this is leading to depression. After many suicide attempts, her mother sends her to a psychiatric institution where she meets a female doctor named Doctor Nolan who eventually helps her overcome her problems and depression. I chose the signpost…

In the literary works of Chopin, Gilman and Plath, marriage remains the predominant motif of the plot, all of which put forth the idea that marriage is a device of “entrapment” of the female sex. Arguably, all three authors adopt “feminist bias”. They are presented from the viewpoint of the female protagonists without any true male interjections; the protagonists struggle to express themselves within restrictive conventions of the patriarchal society which they live in. Finally, the protagonists…

biased interpretation of Ted Hugh’s and Sylvia Plath’s relationship which led to Sylvia becoming a feminist icon for many. Both texts explore women’s role in society and traditional conventions within marriage. The novel Rebecca shows two presentations of women and is open for interpretation.…

The Bell Jar is written by Sylvia Plath and published by William Heinemann Limited in London in 1963. This is the only novel written by American author and poet Plath and was first published under the name Victoria Lucas. This semi-autobiography based in New York City in 1953 tells the story of Esther Greenwood and her journey in the city and road down depression. Plath focuses on theme such as restricted roles of women in the 50’s in America and with sub-themes like success equals career.…

about Larry Peerce’s film interpretation of her novel The Bell Jar. Sylvia Plath’s novel The Bell Jar can be described as one of the most depressing books ever written. Unfortunately for Plath, the novel has part of her story that is roman-a-clef, meaning they are based on her actual life. In 1950 Plath started attending Smith College and in 1952 she became a student editor for Mademoiselle just as Esther does (Scott). Furthermore, Plath describes her experience at Mademoiselle as an…

The Sylvia Plath Effect coined by famous psychologist James C. Kaufman in 2001 explores the idea that poets are often more susceptible to mental illness than other writers (Bailey). Many say that poets are more susceptible to depression due to their more realistic outlook on life however, it is more likely that creative people are more depressed due to how much time they spend ruminating on their thoughts. One of the most recognized artist that suffered from mental illness was, in fact, Sylvia…

“Daddy,” Sylvia Plath illustrates the struggle between a victimized daughter and a towering, menacing father. Written at the end of her life, this work of art shines out among Plath’s other poems while still relating to her previous works. Throughout her life, Plath experienced many life changing events, taking what she learned from them and amplifying the knowledge by writing it down into a beautiful piece of art. The resulting poems and novels reflects the deep wounds embedded in Plath, and…

but were extremely limited in many aspects of their lives. In the late nineteen-fifties, women were pressured into conforming to specific criteria which corresponded to their roles as members of the female gender. Sylvia Plath discusses such roles throughout her literary works. In Sylvia Plath’s novel The Bell Jar, she employs imagistic motifs in order to confront the issues that…

The poem “Daddy” by Sylvia Plath, is based on what the author really experienced with her father. The author does not have a good memory about her father and hate her father severely. To express her feeling about her father, the author uses different kinds of sound devices, and metaphors and similes. Through these elements, this poem contains different themes. In this poem, the author uses several examples of metaphors and similes to express her father and herself. The author said, “which I…