SYLVIA PLATH 1932-1963. SYLVIA PLATH Born to middle class parents in Massachusetts; Published her...
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SYLVIA PLATH 1932-1963. SYLVIA PLATH Born to middle class parents in Massachusetts; Published her first poem when she was eight; Sensitive, intelligent,
SYLVIA PLATH Born to middle class parents in Massachusetts;
Published her first poem when she was eight; Sensitive,
intelligent, compelled toward perfection.
Slide 3
SYLVIA PLATH She was, on the surface, a model daughter, popular
in school, earning straight A's, winning the best prizes. By the
time she entered Smith College, a prestigious all-girls school in
Massachusetts, on a scholarship in 1950 she already had an
impressive list of publications; While at Smith she wrote over four
hundred poems.
Slide 4
SYLVIA PLATH In 1953, her short story, "Sunday at the Mintons"
won first prize in a Mademoiselle contest. She also won a Guest
Editorship at Mademoiselle in New York City.
Slide 5
SYLVIA PLATH After returning home, Sylvia nearly succeeded in
killing herself by swallowing sleeping pills. She later described
this experience in an autobiographical novel, The Bell Jar,
published in 1963.
Slide 6
SYLVIA PLATH After a period of recovery involving electroshock
and psychotherapy Sylvia resumed her pursuit of academic and
literary success, graduating from Smith summa cum laude in 1955 and
winning a Fulbright scholarship to study at Cambridge,
England.
Slide 7
SYLVIA PLATH In 1956 she married Ted Hughes; The Collosus, her
first book, a collection of poems, was published in England, where
she had moved after her marriage; she was 28 years old.
Slide 8
SYLVIA PLATH Sylvias marriage fell apart less than two years
after the birth of her first child; During the winter of 1962-63,
one of the coldest in centuries, Sylvia was living in a small
London apartment with two small children. She was sick with the flu
and low on money.
Slide 9
SYLVIA PLATH The hardness of her life seemed to increase her
need to write; The harshness was also reflected in her poetry. In
these last poems death is given a cruel physical appeal and psychic
pain becomes almost concrete.
Slide 10
SYLVIA PLATH On February 11, 1963, Sylvia Plath killed herself
with cooking gas at the age of 30. As with the first attempt there
was plenty of drama.
Slide 11
Sylvia Plath's gravesite in England is now visited by hundreds
of people each year.
Slide 12
Sylvias son, Nicholas Hughes, committed suicide on March 16,
2009, at the age of 47. He had long suffered from depression. His
sister, Frieda, lives in Australia and is a poet and painter.
Slide 13
ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS Literature is influenced by the events
of its time period; Literature explores the changing dynamics of
the nuclear family; Literature assists in our struggle to find
meaning in a world that is constantly changing; Literature serves
as an outlet for individuals to process the world around them.
Slide 14
DADDY FACTS TO REMEMBER Plaths father died when she was eight
years old. It is widely believed she never recovered from losing
her father at any early age and that this led to her depression.
Daddy was written in 1965, almost 30 years after his death.
Slide 15
FACTS TO REMEMBER He had emigrated from Grabow, Germany,
located in the Polish Corridor. Stereotypically, Germans are
considered harsh; even the language is heavy-sounding.