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Quick Facts
- NAME: Sylvia Plath
- OCCUPATION: Academic, Editor, Author, Poet
- BIRTH DATE: October 27, 1932
- DEATH DATE: February 11, 1963
- EDUCATION: Smith College, Cambridge University
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Boston, Massachusetts
- PLACE OF DEATH: London, England
Best Known For
Sylvia Plath was a gifted, troubled poet, known for the confessional style of her work. She wrote the novel The Bell Jar.
Videos see all videos
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Sylvia Plath - Death (2:01)
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Sylvia Plath - Marriage by Fate
Sylvia Plath sealed her fate when she bit fellow poet Ted Hughes on the cheek.
Sylvia Plath - Death
Sylvia Plath takes her own life at age 30 on February 11, 1963.
Sylvia Plath - Severe Depression
At 20 years old, Sylvia Plath first attempted suicide.
Sylvia Plath - Facing Her Demons
Sylvia Plath found out her husband, Ted Hughes, was having an affair.
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Play NowSylvia Plath. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 06:00, Jun 18, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/sylvia-plath-9442550.
Sylvia Plath. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/sylvia-plath-9442550 [Accessed 18 Jun 2013].
"Sylvia Plath." 2013. The Biography Channel website. Jun 18 2013, 06:00 http://www.biography.com/people/sylvia-plath-9442550.
"Sylvia Plath," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/sylvia-plath-9442550 [accessed Jun 18, 2013].
"Sylvia Plath," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/sylvia-plath-9442550 (accessed Jun 18, 2013).
Sylvia Plath [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 Jun 18] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/sylvia-plath-9442550.
Sylvia Plath, http://www.biography.com/people/sylvia-plath-9442550 (last visited Jun 18, 2013).
Sylvia Plath. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/sylvia-plath-9442550. Accessed Jun 18, 2013.
Synopsis
Sylvia Plath was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on October 27, 1932. Plath met and married British poet Ted Hughes, although the two later split. The depressive Plath committed suicide in 1963, garnering accolades after her death for the novel The Bell Jar, and the poetry collections "The Colossus" and "Ariel." In 1982, Plath became the first person to win a posthumous Pulitzer Prize.
Quotes
"What a man wants is is an arrow into the future and what a woman is is the place the arrow shoots off from."
Early Life
Poet and novelist Sylvia Plath was born on October 27, 1932, in Boston, Massachusetts. Sylvia Plath was a gifted and troubled poet, known for the confessional style of her work. Her interest in writing emerged at an early age, and she started out by keeping a journal. After publishing a number of works, Plath won a scholarship to Smith College in 1950.
While she was a student, Sylvia Plath spent time in New York City during the summer of 1953 working for Mademoiselle magazine as a guest editor. Soon after, Plath tried to kill herself by taking sleeping pills. She eventually recovered, having received treatment during a stay in a mental health facility. Plath returned to Smith and finished her degree in 1955.
Relationship and Published Poetry
A Fulbright Fellowship brought Sylvia Plath to Cambridge University in England. While studying at the university's Newnham College, she met the poet Ted Hughes. The two married in 1956 and had a stormy relationship. In 1957, Plath spent time in Massachusetts to study with poet Robert Lowell and met fellow poet and student Ann Sexton. She also taught English at Smith College around that same time. Plath returned to England in 1959.
A poet on the rise, Sylvia Plath had her first collection of poetry, The Colossus, published in England in 1960. That same year, she gave birth to her first child, a daughter named Freida. Two years later, Plath and Hughes welcomed a second child, a son named Nicholas. Unfortunately, the couple's marriage was failing apart.
Legacy
Much to the dismay of some admirers of Sylvia Plath, Ted Hughes became her literary executor after her death. While there has been some speculation about how he handled her papers and her image, he did edit what is considered by many to her greatest work, Ariel. It featured several of her most well-known poems, including "Daddy" and "Lady Lazarus." He continued to produce new collections of Plath's works. Sylvia Plath won the Pulitzer Prize in 1982 for Collected Poems. She is still a highly regarded and much studied poet to this day.
The story of Sylvia Plath—her troubled life and tragic death—was the basis for the 2003 biopic Sylvia starring Gwyneth Paltrow in the title role.
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View groupWhen one lover attacks another in a moment of unbridled emotion—or tries to eliminate their romantic competition—it's traditionally been known as 'a crime of passion.' These days, fits of rage over lost love are often chalked up to 'temporary insanity.' Whatever you call them, crimes committed in the name of love have been part of our cultural history since ancient times. Here are some of the most famous examples of passion-gone-wrong, from those who couldn't bear to part with their true love to those who found themselves on the receiving end of an obsessive romance.
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