Sylvia Plath was an American Poet and was seen as “one of the most dynamic and admired poets of the 20th century” (Poetry Foundation).  She was a novelist and a poet who wrote confessional poetry. Her novel was called The Bell Jar. Shortly after her novel released she killed herself in 1963. Previously, around the 1950’s Plath did attempt suicide for the first time and failed at it. She was sent to a mental health facility in which she received treatment. Sylvia Plath was married to Ted Hughes and had two kids (Freida Hughes and Nicholas Hughes). Her husband ended up having an affair with another woman. According to Poetry Foundation, Plath had written a journal entry that was written on June 20th, 1958 that said: “It is as if my life were magically run by two electric current: joyous positive and despairing negative – whichever is running at the moment dominates my life, floods it.” You could assume that from this journal entry she suffered from depression or some mental disorder. I believe that her depression drove her to kill herself. I think that maybe it was over the affair or maybe she dealt with so much problems within her life that she didn’t know how to cope with it. I believe that writing made it easier for her too write how she truly felt until she no longer knew how to deal with it. Writing was her career but it was her way of living as well.

Citations:

1. “Sylvia Plath.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 28 Apr. 2017, www.biography.com/people/sylvia-plath-9442550.
2. “Sylvia Plath.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/sylvia-plath.