Anne Sexton is an American poet and playwright well known for her confessional poetries that deals with dark and personal themes. Erica Jong states “She is an important poet not only because of her courage in dealing with previously forbidden subjects, but because she can make the language sing…”. Sexton began her writing career in 1955 with encouragement from her long-time therapist, Dr. Martin T. Orne, as her depression was worsening and Sexton had multiple suicide attempts. Sexton’s work would gain noteriety as she won multiple awards, most notably The Pulitzer Prize for her book “Live or Die” and an off-broadway production of her only play, Mercy Street. In 1975 Sexton committed suicide by Asphyxiation from carbon monoxide in her garage. Her daughter and literary executor, Linda Gray Sexton, will release her last works posthumous before working with Diane Middlebrook to write her biography, Searching for Mercy Street: My Journey Back to My Mother, Anne Sexton. The biography spurred controversy as it was revealed that Sexton had frequently abused her daughters as well as sexually assaulted Linda. It was also brought light that Dr.Orne has tapes of his sessions with Sexton and released them for the biography. Though an admittedly dark turn of event, Sexton’s work are still widely renown and her works have inspired countless confessional poets to explore their inner demons.

Citations:

1. “Anne Sexton.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/anne-sexton.
2. Wagner-Martin, Linda. “Anne Sexton’s Life.” The Modern American Poetry Site,University of Illinois, http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/index.htm.
3. Hausman, Ken. “Psychiatrist Criticized Over Release Of Poet’s Psychotherapy Tapes.” The Wayback Machine,  https://web.archive.org/web/20090321225256/http://dianemiddlebrook.com/sexton/tpn9-6.html

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.