Sylvia Plath was born on October 27th, 1932 in Boston, Massachusetts to German immigrants. Her father was a Biology professor and her mother was his student. When Sylvia was eight years old, her father died of complications with diabetes. Although he was authoritative and stern, she was deeply hurt by his passing. This traumatic experience led her to write one of her most well-known poems “Daddy”. This becomes somewhat of a pattern in Sylvia’s life. Anytime she goes through some type of trauma, she writes, and it becomes wildly famous. Sylvia struggled with what is now known as manic depression since she was in her teens. Her first breakdown happened as an undergrad. She attempted to commit suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills. This suicide attempt led her to become institutionalized and receive electro-shock treatments. From this breakdown, came the novel ‘The Bell Jar’ which was released in 1963, the same year she died. This is the only novel Plath released. It is a semi-autobiographical novel based on her experiences and troubles with her emotional and mental health, as well as issues within her marital and family life. In 1956, she met and married her husband Ted Hughes. Together they had two children. In 1962, Hughes left her for another woman. She again became deeply depressed and “wrote most of the poems that would comprise her famous book, ‘Ariel’”. As mentioned above, a year later, she wrote ‘The Bell Jar’ and shortly after committed suicide by inhalation of cooking gas in the kitchen of her home. Plath had a lifetime of traumatic events and mental issues. Her condition can be argued to be a blessing as it gave her the inspiration and motive to write poems that made her wildly famous. Her style of writing is associated with the confessional movement which is when poems became a bit more personal in their context. It is interesting to know that Plath received a Pulitzer Prize in 1982, although posthumously for work published by her ex-husband called ‘The Collected Poems’. She is most known for ‘The Bell Jar’, ‘Ariel’, ‘Colossus’ and ‘The Collected Poems’. It is important to know Plath’s personal life in understanding her poems and writings. “Her work is singled out for the intense coupling of its violent or disturbed imagery and its playful use of alliteration and rhyme”. 

“Sylvia Plath.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/sylvia-plath. 

“Sylvia Plath.” Poets.org, Academy of American Poets, 21 Aug. 2014, www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/sylvia-plath.