S.

Plath The Bell Jar The young self: autobiography/confession Woman/women in the novel The experience of suicide/ the experience of the mental prison/asylum/ the experience of the social prison in the novel The Bell Jar is an autobiographical novel that conforms closely to the events of the author s life. Sylvia Plath was born to !tto and "urelia Plath in #$%& and spent her early childhood in the seaport town of Winthrop' (assachusetts. !tto Plath died when Plath was eight years old' and she moved with her mother' younger brother' and maternal grandparents to Wellesley' an inland suburb of )oston. Plath excelled in school and developed a strong interest in writing and drawing. *n #$+,' she won a scholarship to attend Smith -ollege' where she ma.ored in /nglish. The Bell Jar recounts' in slightly fictionali0ed form' the events of the summer and autumn after Plath s .unior year. 1i2e /sther' the protagonist of The Bell Jar, Plath was invited to serve as guest editor for a woman s maga0ine in 3ew 4or2. "fter returning to Wellesley for the remainder of the summer' she had a nervous brea2down and attempted suicide Plath went on to complete a highly successful college career. She won the prestigious 5ulbright scholarship to study at -ambridge 6niversity in /ngland' where she met the /nglish poet Ted 7ughes. They married in #$+8' and after a brief stint in the 6nited States' where Plath taught at Smith' they moved bac2 to /ngland in #$+$. Plath gave birth to her first child' 5reda' the following year. The same year' she published The Colossus, her first volume of poetry. 7er second child' 3icholas' was born in #$8&. 7ughes and Plath separated shortly afterward9 her instability and his affair with another woman had placed great strain on their marriage. Plath and her children moved to a flat in 1ondon' where she continued to write poetry. The poems she wrote at this time were later published in a collection titled Ariel :#$8+;. *n 5ebruary #$8%' she gassed herself in her 2itchen' ending her life at the age of thirty< one. Plath most li2ely wrote a first draft of The Bell Jar in the late #$+,s. *n #$8# she received a fellowship that allowed her to complete the novel. The Bell Jar was published in 1ondon in =anuary #$8% under the pseudonym >ictoria 1ucas. Plath chose to publish the wor2 under a pseudonym in order to protect the people she portrayed in the novel' and because she was uncertain of the novel s literary merit. The novel appeared posthumously in /ngland under her own name in #$88' and in "merica' over the ob.ections of her mother' in #$?#. The Bell Jar has received moderate critical acclaim' and has long been valued not only as a glimpse into the psyche of a ma.or poet' but as a witty and harrowing "merican coming<of<age story. Plath is primarily 2nown not as a novelist' but as an outstanding poet. Ariel cemented her reputation as a great artist. 7er other volumes of poetry' published posthumously' include Crossing the Water :#$?#;' Winter Trees :#$?#;' and The Collected Poems :#$@#;' which won the Pulit0er Pri0e. Sylvia Plath s literary persona has always provo2ed extreme reactions. !nloo2ers tend to mythologi0e Plath either as a feminist martyr or a tragic heroine. The feminist martyr version of her life holds that Plath was driven over the edge by her misogynist husband' and sacrificed #

on the altar of pre<feminist' repressive #$+,s "merica. The tragic heroine version of her life casts Plath as a talented but doomed young woman' unable to deal with the pressures of society because of her debilitating mental illness. "lthough neither myth presents a wholly accurate picture' truth exists in both. The Bell Jar does not label its protagonist s life as either martyred or heroic. Plath does not attribute /sther s instability to men' society' or /sther herself' although she does critici0e all three. Aather' she blames mental illness' which she characteri0es as a mysterious and horrific disease. Key Facts
FULL TITLE AUTHOR

B The Bell Jar

B Sylvia Plath B 3ovel

TYPE OF WORK GENRE

B -oming<of<age novel9 autobiographical fiction B /nglish B 5irst draft as early as #$+?' -ambridge' /ngland9 completed in B =anuary #$8%' under the pseudonym >ictoria 1ucas

LANGUAGE

TIME AND PLACE WRITTEN

#$8&' Cevon' /ngland

DATE OF FIRST PUBLICATION PUBLISHER

B William 7einemann 1imited :#$8%;9 5aber and 5aber :first edition under Plath s name' #$88;9 7arper and Aow :first "merican edition' #$?#;
NARRATOR

B /sther Dreenwood B 5irst person

POINT OF VIEW TONE TENSE

B (atter<of<fact9 cynical9 terse9 detached9 girlish B Past B =une #$+%=anuary #$+E B 3ew 4or2 -ity9 the )oston suburbs9 hospitals in and around )oston

SETTING (TIME)

SETTING (PLACE) PROTAGONIST

B /sther Dreenwood B /sther struggles against her oppressive environment and encroaching

MA OR CONFLICT

madness. B /sther spends a month as a guest editor in 3ew 4or2. When she returns home' she finds herself unable to read' write' or sleep. She receives her first shoc2 treatment' and contemplates methods of suicide.
RISING ACTION CLIMA!

B /sther almost succeeds in 2illing herself.

B /sther recovers in a city hospital and then in a private mental hospital' where she finds a psychiatrist whom she can trust. "fter losing her virginity' she prepares to leave the hospital.
FALLING ACTION

&

B Drowth through pain and rebirth9 the emptiness of conventional expectations9 the restricted role of women in #$+,s "merica9 the perils of psychiatric medicine
THEMES MOTIFS

B 3ews and fashion media9 mirrors9 blood B The bell .ar9 the fig tree9 headlines9 the beating heart

SYMBOLS

B /sther s semi<suicidal plunge down the s2i slopes foreshadows her later' more systematic suicide attempts.
FORESHADOWING

P"#t O$e%$&e' /sther Dreenwood' a college student from (assachusetts' travels to 3ew 4or2 to wor2 on a maga0ine for a month as a guest editor. She wor2s for =ay -ee' a sympathetic but demanding woman. /sther and eleven other college girls live in a women s hotel. The sponsors of their trip wine and dine them and shower them with presents. /sther 2nows she should be having the time of her life' but she feels deadened. The execution of the Aosenbergs worries her' and she can embrace neither the rebellious attitude of her friend Coreen nor the per2y conformism of her friend )etsy. /sther and the other girls suffer food poisoning after a fancy banFuet. /sther attempts to lose her virginity with a 63 interpreter' but he seems uninterested. She Fuestions her abilities and worries about what she will do after college. !n her last night in the city' she goes on a disastrous blind date with a man named (arco' who tries to rape her. /sther wonders if she should marry and live a conventional domestic life' or attempt to satisfy her ambition. )uddy Willard' her college boyfriend' is recovering from tuberculosis in a sanitarium' and wants to marry /sther when he regains his health. To an outside observer' )uddy appears to be the ideal mate: he is handsome' gentle' intelligent' and ambitious. )ut he does not understand /sther s desire to write poetry' and when he confesses that he slept with a waitress while dating /sther' /sther thin2s him a hypocrite and decides she cannot marry him. She sets out to lose her virginity as though in pursuit of the answer to an important mystery. /sther returns to the )oston suburbs and discovers that she has not been accepted to a writing class she had planned to ta2e. She will spend the summer with her mother instead. She ma2es vague plans to write a novel' learn shorthand' and start her senior thesis. Soon she finds the feelings of unreality she experienced in 3ew 4or2 ta2ing over her life. She is unable to read' write' or sleep' and she stops bathing. 7er mother ta2es her to Cr. Dordon' a psychiatrist who prescribes electric shoc2 therapy for /sther. /sther becomes more unstable than ever after this terrifying treatment' and decides to 2ill herself. She tries to slit her wrists' but can only bring herself to slash her calf. She tries to hang herself' but cannot find a place to tie the rope in her low<ceilinged house. "t the beach with friends' she attempts to drown herself' but she 2eeps floating to the surface of the water. 5inally' she hides in a basement crawl space and ta2es a large Fuantity of sleeping pills. /sther awa2ens to find herself in the hospital. She has survived her suicide attempt with no permanent physical in.uries. !nce her body heals' she is sent to the psychological ward in the city hospital' where she is uncooperative' paranoid' and determined to end her life. /ventually' Philomena Duinea' a famous novelist who sponsors /sther s college scholarship' %

pays to move her to a private hospital. *n this more enlightened environment' /sther comes to trust her new psychiatrist' a woman named Cr. 3olan. She slowly begins to improve with a combination of tal2 therapy' insulin in.ections' and properly administered electric shoc2 therapy. She becomes friends with =oan' a woman from her hometown and college who has had experiences similar to /sther s. She is repulsed' however' when =oan ma2es a sexual advance toward her. "s /sther improves' the hospital officials grant her permission to leave the hospital from time to time. Curing one of these excursions' she finally loses her virginity with a math professor named *rwin. She begins bleeding profusely and has to go to the emergency room. !ne morning' =oan' who seemed to be improving' hangs herself. )uddy comes to visit /sther' and both understand that their relationship is over. /sther will leave the mental hospital in time to start winter semester at college. She believes that she has regained a tenuous grasp on sanity' but 2nows that the bell .ar of her madness could descend again at any time. A(a"ys&s #) Ma*#% C+a%acte%s Est+e% G%ee('##, /sther Dreenwood is the protagonist and narrator of The Bell Jar. The plot of the novel follows her descent into and return from <madness. The Bell Jar tells an atypical coming<of< age story: instead of undergoing a positive' progressive education in the ways of the world' culminating in a graduation into adulthood' /sther learns from madness' and graduates not from school but from a mental institution. /sther behaves unconventionally in reaction to the society in which she lives. Society expects /sther to be constantly cheerful and peppy' but her dar2' melancholy nature resists per2iness. She becomes preoccupied with the execution of the Aosenbergs and the cadavers and pic2led fetuses she sees at )uddy s medical school' because her brooding nature can find no acceptable means of expression. Society expects /sther to remain a virgin until her marriage to a nice boy' but /sther sees the hypocrisy of this rule and decides that li2e )uddy' she wants to lose her virginity before marriage. She embar2s on a loveless sexual encounter because society does not provide her with an outlet for healthy sexual experimentation. Plath distinguishes /sther s understandably unconventional behavior from her madness. /ven though society s ills disturb /sther' they do not ma2e her mad. Aather' madness descends on her' an illness as unpreventable and destructive as cancer. 1argely because of her mental illness' /sther behaves selfishly. She does not consider the effect her suicide attempts have on her mother' or on her friends. 7er own terrifying world occupies her thoughts completely. Though inexperienced' /sther is also observant' poetic' and 2ind. Plath feels affection toward her protagonist' but she is unswerving in depicting /sther s self<absorption' confusion' and naGvetH. M%s- G%ee('##, (rs. Dreenwood remains in the bac2ground of the novel' for /sther ma2es little attempt to describe her. 7owever' despite her relative invisibility' (rs. Dreenwood s influence pervades /sther s mind. (rs. Dreenwood subscribes to society s notions about women. She sends E

/sther an article emphasi0ing the importance of guarding one s virginity' and while she encourages /sther to pursue her ambition to write' she also encourages her to learn shorthand so that she can find wor2 as a secretary. While /sther worries that her desire to be a poet or a professor will conflict with her probable role as wife and mother' her mother hopes that /sther s ambitions will not interfere with her domestic duties. (rs. Dreenwood clearly loves /sther and worries about her: she runs through her money paying for /sther s stay in the hospital' and brings /sther roses on her birthday. Still' /sther partly faults her mother for her madness' and Plath represents this assigning of blame as an important brea2through for /sther. When /sther tells Cr. 3olan that she hates her mother' 3olan reacts with satisfaction' as if this admission explains /sther s condition and mar2s an important step in her recovery. The doctors decide that /sther should stay in the hospital until winter term at college begins rather than go home to live with her mother. Perhaps /sther hates her mother partly because she feels guilty about inflicting such vast pain on her. B.,,y W&""a%, " contemporary reviewer of The Bell Jar once observed that )uddy Willard is a perfect specimen of the ideal #$+,s "merican male. )y the standards of the time' )uddy is nearly flawless. 7andsome and athletic' he attends church' loves his parents' thrives in school' and studies to become a doctor. /sther appreciates )uddy s near perfection' and admires him for a long time from afar. )ut once she gets to 2now him' she sees his flaws. *n what was considered natural behavior in men at that time' )uddy spends a summer sleeping with a waitress while dating /sther' and does not apologi0e for his behavior. /sther also reali0es that while )uddy is intelligent' he is not particularly thoughtful. 7e does not understand /sther s desire to write poetry' telling her that poems are li2e dust' and that her passion for poetry will change as soon as she becomes a mother. 7e accepts his mother s conventional ideas about how he should organi0e his domestic and emotional life. )uddy s sexuality proves boringI /sther finds his 2isses uninspiring' and when he undresses before her' he does so in a clinical way' telling her she should get used to seeing him na2ed' and explaining that he wears net underwear because his Jmother says they wash easily.K 5inally' he seems unconsciously cruel. 7e tells /sther he slept with the waitress because she was Jfree' white' and twenty<one'K acts pleased when /sther brea2s her leg on a s2i slope' and' in their last meeting' wonders out loud who will marry her now that she has been in a mental institution. *n some ways' )uddy and /sther endure similar experiences. They both show great promise at the beginning of the novel' and at the novel s end have become muted and worldly. )uddy s time in the sanitarium during his bout with tuberculosis parallels /sther s time in the mental institution. )oth experiment with premarital sex. Still' they share few character traits' and /sther must re.ect )uddy because she re.ects his way of life. She will not become a submissive wife and mother and shelve her artistic ambitions. D#ct#% N#"a( < /sther s psychiatrist at the private mental hospital. /sther comes to trust and love Cr. 3olan' who acts as a 2ind and understanding surrogate mother. Progressive and unconventional' Cr. 3olan encourages /sther s unusual thin2ing. D#%ee( < /sther s companion in 3ew 4or2' a blond' beautiful southern girl with a sharp tongue. /sther envies Coreen s nonchalance in social situations' and the two share a witty' cynical perspective on their position as guest editors for a fashion maga0ine. Coreen +

represents a rebellion against societal convention that /sther admires but cannot entirely embrace. #a( G&""&(/ < /sther s companion in the mental hospital. " large' horsy woman' =oan was a year ahead of /sther in college' and /sther envied her social and athletic success. =oan once dated )uddy' /sther s boyfriend. *n the mental ward' /sther comes to thin2 of =oan as her double' someone with similar experiences to /sther s whom /sther does not particularly li2e' but with whom she feels an affinity. ay Cee < /sther s boss at the maga0ine' an ambitious career woman who encourages /sther to be ambitious. She is physically unattractive' but moves self<confidently in her world. She treats /sther brusFuely but 2indly. Betsy < " pretty' wholesome girl from Lansas who becomes /sther s friend when they both wor2 at the maga0ine. /sther feels she is more li2e )etsy than she is li2e Coreen' but she cannot relate to )etsy s cheerfulness and optimism. C#(sta(t&( < " 63 simultaneous interpreter who ta2es /sther on a date. 7andsome' thoughtful' and accomplished' he seems sexually uninterested in /sther' who is willing to let him seduce her. Ma%c# < " tall' dar2' well<dressed Peruvian who ta2es /sther on a date to a country club. (arco expresses dashing self<confidence' but also a hatred of women. >iolent and sadistic' he believes that all women are sluts. I%'&( < /sther s first lover' he is a tall' intelligent' homely math professor at 7arvard. *rwin is charming and seductive but not particularly responsible or caring. D#ct#% G#%,#( < /sther s first psychiatrist' whom she distrusts. 7e is good<loo2ing and has an attractive family' and /sther thin2s him conceited. 7e does not 2now how to help /sther' and ends up doing her more harm than good. P+&"#0e(a G.&(ea < " famous' wealthy novelist who gives /sther a scholarship to attend college and pays for /sther s stay in the private mental hospital. She is elderly' generous' and successful. M%s- W&""a%, < " friend of /sther s mother and the mother of /sther s sometime<boyfriend' )uddy Willard. (rs. Willard' who feels protective of her son' has traditional ideas about the roles men and women should play. Le((y S+e1+e%, < Coreen s love interest' 1enny is a 3ew 4or2 C= and smooth older man. 7e wears cowboy<style clothes and has a cowboy<style home. E%&c < " past acFuaintance of /sther s with whom she had her most open conversation about sex. 7e is a southern prep school boy who lost his virginity with a prostitute and now associates love with chastity and sex with behaving li2e an animal. D#,# C#('ay < The Dreenwoods neighbor' Codo is a -atholic woman with six children and a seventh on the way. She lives unconventionally' but everyone li2es her. #,y < " friend of /sther s' with whom she is supposed to live while she ta2es a summer writing course. =ody is friendly and tries to be helpful' but cannot reach /sther. Va"e%&e < " friend of /sther s in the private mental hospital. >alerie has had a lobotomy' and is friendly and relaxed. T+e0es2 M#t&)s 3 Sy04#"s

T+e0es Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary wor . Growth Through Pain and Rebirth The Bell Jar tells the story of a young woman s coming<of<age' but it does not follow the usual tra.ectory of adolescent development into adulthood. *nstead of undergoing a progressive education in the ways of the world' culminating in an entrance into adulthood' /sther regresses into madness. /xperiences intended to be life<changing in a positive senseI /sther s first time in 3ew 4or2 -ity' her first marriage proposal' her success in collegeIare upsetting and disorienting to her. *nstead of finding new meaning in living' /sther wants to die. "s she slowly recovers from her suicide attempt' she aspires simply to survive. /sther s struggles and triumphs seem more heroic than conventional achievements. 7er desire to die rather than live a false life can be interpreted as noble' and the gradual steps she ta2es bac2 to sanity seem dignified. /sther does not mar2 maturity in the traditional way of fictional heroines' by marrying and beginning a family' but by finding the strength to re.ect the conventional model of womanhood. /sther emerges from her trials with a clear understanding of her own mental health' the strength that she summoned to help her survive' and increased confidence in her s2epticism of society s mores. She describes herself' with characteristic humor' as newly Jpatched' retreaded and approved for the road.K The Emptiness of Conventional Expectations /sther observes a gap between what society says she should experience and what she does experience' and this gap intensifies her madness. Society expects women of /sther s age and station to act cheerful' flexible' and confident' and /sther feels she must repress her natural gloom' cynicism' and dar2 humor. She feels she cannot discuss or thin2 about the dar2 spots in life that plague her: personal failure' suffering' and death. She 2nows the world of fashion she inhabits in 3ew 4or2 should ma2e her feel glamorous and happy' but she finds it filled with poison' drun2enness' and violence. 7er relationships with men are supposed to be romantic and meaningful' but they are mar2ed by misunderstanding' distrust' and brutality. /sther almost continuously feels that her reactions are wrong' or that she is the only one to view the world as she does' and eventually she begins to feel a sense of unreality. This sense of unreality grows until it becomes unbearable' and attempted suicide and madness follow. The Restricted Role of Women in 19 !s "merica /sther s sense of alienation from the world around her comes from the expectations placed upon her as a young woman living in #$+,s "merica. /sther feels pulled between her desire to write and the pressure she feels to settle down and start a family. While /sther s intellectual talents earn her pri0es' scholarships' and respect' many people assume that she most wants to become a wife and mother. The girls at her college moc2 her studiousness and only show her respect when she begins dating a handsome and well<li2ed boy. 7er relationship with )uddy earns her mother s approval' and everyone expects /sther to marry him. )uddy assumes that /sther will drop her poetic ambitions as soon as she becomes a mother' and /sther also assumes that she cannot be both mother and poet.

/sther longs to have adventures that society denies her' particularly sexual adventures. She decides to re.ect )uddy for good when she reali0es he represents a sexual double standard. 7e has an affair with a waitress while dating /sther' but expects /sther to remain a virgin until she marries him. /sther understands her first sexual experience as a crucial step toward independence and adulthood' but she see2s this experience not for her own pleasure but rather to relieve herself of her burdensome virginity. /sther feels anxiety about her future because she can see only mutually exclusive choices: virgin or whore' submissive married woman or successful but lonely career woman. She dreams of a larger life' but the stress even of dreaming such a thing worsens her madness. The Perils of Ps#chiatric $edicine The Bell Jar ta2es a critical view of the medical profession' in particular psychiatric medicine. This critiFue begins with /sther s visit to )uddy s medical school. There' /sther is troubled by the arrogance of the doctors and their lac2 of sympathy for the pain suffered by a woman in labor. When /sther meets her first psychiatrist' Cr. Dordon' she finds him self<satisfied and unsympathetic. 7e does not listen to her' and prescribes a traumatic and unhelpful shoc2 therapy treatment. =oan' /sther s acFuaintance in the mental hospital' tells a similar tale of the insensitivity of male psychiatrists. Some of the hospitals in which /sther stays are frighteningly saniti0ed and authoritarian. The novel does not paint an entirely negative picture of psychiatric care' however. When /sther goes to a more enlightened' luxurious institution' she begins to heal under the care of Cr. 3olan' a progressive female psychiatrist. The three methods of #$+,s psychiatric treatmentItal2 therapy' insulin in.ections' and electroshoc2 therapyIwor2 for /sther under the proper and attentive care of Cr. 3olan. /ven properly administered therapy does not receive unmitigated praise' however. Shoc2 therapy' for example' wor2s by clearing the mind entirely. "fter one treatment' /sther finds herself unable to thin2 about 2nives. This inability comes as a relief' but it also suggests that the therapy wor2s by the dubious method of blunting /sther s sharp intelligence. M#t&)s !otifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text"s ma#or themes. /sther freFuently reads newspaper headings and thumbs through maga0ines. The information that she absorbs from these sources tells us what interests her most: the papers fascinate her with their stories of the execution of the Aosenbergs and a man s suicide attempt. Periodicals also reinforce the values of mainstream #$+,s "merica. /sther s mother sends her a pamphlet defending chastity' and in the doctor s waiting room /sther reads maga0ines about young motherhood. The power of maga0ine images to distort and alienate is most obvious when /sther sees a picture of herself in a fashion maga0ine in the mental hospital and feels the distance between her actual life and the image of glamour and happiness she sees in the maga0ine. $irrors /sther continually confronts reflections of herself' reflections she often fails to recogni0e. "fter her evening with Coreen and 1enny' /sther fails to recogni0e her own reflection in the @

elevator doors. "fter her first shoc2 treatment with Cr. 3olan' she thin2s her reflection is another woman in the room. (ost dramatically' after her suicide attempt /sther fails to recogni0e her bruised and discolored face in a mirror' and cannot even tell if the creature she sees is a man or a woman. /sther increasingly struggles to 2eep the outward self she presents to the world united with the inner self that she experiences. 7er failure to recogni0e her own reflection stands for the difficulty she has understanding herself. %lood The shedding of blood mar2s ma.or transitions in /sther s life. When (arco attempts to rape her' she gives him a bloody nose' and he smears his blood on her li2e war paint. When she decides to 2ill herself' she slashes her calf to practice slashing her wrists. When she loses her virginity' she bleeds so copiously that she must see2 medical attention. The presence of blood suggests a ritual sacrifice: /sther will sacrifice her body for peace of mind' and sacrifice her virginity for the sa2e of experience. The presence of blood also indicates the frightening violence of /sther s experiences. 5or her' transformations involve pain and suffering' not .oy. Sy04#"s $ym%ols are o%#ects, characters, figures, or colors used to represent a%stract ideas or concepts. The %ell &ar The bell .ar is an inverted glass .ar' generally used to display an ob.ect of scientific curiosity' contain a certain 2ind of gas' or maintain a vacuum. 5or /sther' the bell .ar symboli0es madness. When gripped by insanity' she feels as if she is inside an airless .ar that distorts her perspective on the world and prevents her from connecting with the people around her. "t the end of the novel' the bell .ar has lifted' but she can sense that it still hovers over her' waiting to drop at any moment. The 'ig Tree /arly in the novel' /sther reads a story about a =ewish man and a nun who meet under a fig tree. Their relationship is doomed' .ust as she feels her relationship with )uddy is doomed. 1ater' the tree becomes a symbol of the life choices that face /sther. She imagines that each fig represents a different life. She can only choose one fig' but because she wants all of them' she sits paraly0ed with indecision' and the figs rot and fall to the ground. (eadlines -hapter #8 mar2s one of /sther s most debilitating bouts with her illness. *n this chapter' headlines are reprinted in the text of the novel. =oan gives /sther actual headlines from articles reporting /sther s disappearance and attempted suicide. These headlines symboli0e /sther s exposure' her effect on others' and the gap between /sther s interpretation of experiences and the world s interpretation of them. 5irst' they show /sther that the public 2nows about her behaviorIshe does not act in a vacuum' but in the interested eye of the world. The headlines also demonstrate the power /sther s behavior has on people who are almost strangers to her. =oan' for example' says the headlines inspired her to move to 3ew 4or2 and attempt suicide. 5inally' the headlines represent the dissonance between /sther s experience of herself and $

others experience of her. While /sther sees only pain and swallowing pills in the dar2ness' the world sees a sensational story of a missing girl' a hunt in the woods' and the shoc2ing discovery of /sther in her own house. The %eating (eart When /sther tries to 2ill herself' she finds that her body seems determined to live. /sther remar2s that if it were up to her' she could 2ill herself in no time' but she must outwit the tric2s and ruses of her body. The beating heart symboli0es this bodily desire for life. When she tries to drown herself' her heart beats' J* am * am * am.K *t repeats the same phrase when /sther attends =oan s funeral.

I01#%ta(t 5.#tat&#(s E61"a&(e, 1) *oo+ what can happen in this countr#, the#-d sa#) " girl lives in some out.of.the.wa# town for nineteen #ears, so poor she can-t afford a maga/ine, and then she gets a scholarship to college and wins a pri/e here and a pri/e there and ends up steering 0ew 1or+ li+e her own private car) 2nl# 3 wasn-t steering an#thing, not even m#self) 3 4ust bumped from m# hotel to wor+ and to parties and from parties to m# hotel and bac+ to wor+ li+e a numb trolle#bus) 3 guess 3 should have been excited the wa# most of the other girls were, but 3 couldn-t get m#self to react) 3 felt ver# still and ver# empt#, the wa# the e#e of a tornado must feel, moving dull# along in the middle of the surrounding hullabaloo) This Fuotation' which concludes the first section of -hapter #' describes the disconnect /sther feels between the way other people view her life and the way she experiences her life. )y all external measures' /sther should feel happy and excited. She has overcome her middle<class' small town bac2ground with luc2' talent' and hard wor2' and her reward is a glamorous month in 3ew 4or2. "lthough she recogni0es these ob.ective facts' /sther feels uncertain both about her own abilities and about the rewards that these abilities have garnered her. To her own pu00lement' she does not find 3ew 4or2 thrilling and romantic. *nstead' she finds it di00ying and depressing' and she finds the fashion world she inhabits superficial and disorienting. The feeling of numbness that /sther describes here is the 2ernel of the madness that will soon overta2e her. /ventually' the gap between societal expectations and her own feelings and experiences becomes so large that she feels she can no longer survive. 5) When 3 was nineteen, pureness was the great issue) 3nstead of the world being divided up into Catholics and Protestants or Republicans and 6emocrats or white men and blac+ men or even men and women, 3 saw the world divided into people who had slept with somebod# and people who hadn-t, and this seemed the onl# reall# significant difference between one person and another) 3 thought a spectacular change would come over me the da# 3 crossed the boundar# line) This Fuotation from -hapter ? shows that /sther inhabits a world of limited sexual choices. -onvention dictates that she will remain a virgin until she marries. *f she chooses to #,

have sex before marriage' she ris2s pregnancy' displeasing her future husband' and ruining her own name. /sther sets out to defy conventional expectations by losing her virginity with someone she does not expect to marry. Cespite this firm goal' she finds it difficult to gain an independent sexual identity. The men in her life provide little help: )uddy has traditional ideas about male and female roles even though he has mildly transgressed by having an affair with a waitress9 an acFuaintance named /ric thin2s sex disgusting' and will not have sex with a woman he loves9 and (arco calls /sther a slut as he attempts to rape her. When /sther finally loses her virginity' she does not experience the Jspectacular changeK that she expects' although the experience does satisfy her in some says. /sther only partially escapes the repressive ideas about sexuality that surround her. )y losing her virginity' she frees herself of the oppressive mandate to remain pure' but she fails to find sexual pleasure or independence 7) 8W9herever 3 sat:on the dec+ of a ship or at a street caf; in Paris or %ang+o+:3 would be sitting under the same glass bell 4ar, stewing in m# own sour air) This Fuotation' from the beginning of -hapter #+' introduces the symbol of the bell .ar. /sther explains that no matter where she goes' she exists in the hell of her own mind. She is trapped inside herself' and no external stimulation' no matter how new and exciting' can ameliorate this condition. The bell .ar of /sther s madness separates her from the people she should care about. /sther s association of her illness with a bell .ar suggests her feeling that madness descends on her without her control or assentIit is as if an unseen scientist traps her. /sther s suicidal urges come from this sense of suffocating isolation. <) To the person in the bell 4ar, blan+ and stopped as a dead bab#, the world itself is the bad dream) This Fuotation comes from the last chapter of the novel' in which /sther attempts to draw some conclusions about the experiences she has undergone. 7er mother suggests that they treat /sther s madness as if it were a bad dream that can be forgotten. This Fuotation records /sther s inward response9 she feels that madness is li2e being trapped in a bad dream' but it is a bad dream from which one cannot awa2e. /sther li2ens the person who suffers from mental illness to the pic2led fetuses she saw at )uddy s medical school' a morbid connection that illustrates the terror of madness ) (ow did 3 +now that someda#:at college, in Europe, somewhere, an#where:the bell 4ar, with its stifling distortions, wouldn-t descend again= This Fuotation' also from the last chapter of the novel' provides the final word on /sther s supposed cure. The bell .ar has lifted enough that /sther can function more or less normally. She has relinFuished her desire to 2ill herself' and she begins to form tenuous connections with other people and with the outside world. )ut /sther still feels the bell .ar hovering above her' and worries that it will trap her again. 7er madness does not obey reason' and though she feels grateful to have escaped from it' she does not believe that this escape represents a fundamental or permanent change in her situation. *f we read The Bell Jar as ##

partly autobiographical' Plath s own life story confirms that the bell .ar can descend again. =ust as the pressures that culminated in her late teens drove Plath to attempt suicide' the pressures that culminated in her early thirties drove her to commit suicide. St.,y 5.est&#(s 3 Essay T#1&cs St.,y 5.est&#(s 7- W+at &s t+e s&/(&)&ca(ce #) t+e R#se(4e%/s8 e6ec.t&#( &( t+e (#$e"9 /sther s summer in 3ew 4or2 is supposed to be one of carefree pleasure' but newspaper headlines and radio broadcasts 2eep the execution of the Aosenbergs at the forefront of her mind. /sther does not see #$+,s "merica as a reasonable' moral place' but a faMade hiding dar2ness and suffering such as the impending execution of the Aosenbergs. The Aosenberg case was controversial for political reasons. Some felt that the Aosenbergs guilt was Fuestionable and their sentence too harsh' others that in order to combat -ommunism' spies must receive harsh punishment. 7owever' /sther does not mention the politics of their case. *nstead' the machinery and physical process of their deaths fascinates and horrifies her. /sther s obsession with the Aosenbergs represents her general obsession with death. :- W+at %eas#(s ,#es t+e (#$e" /&$e )#% Est+e%8s 0a,(ess9 The novel avoids attributing /sther s mental illness to external factors' and blames it on a mysterious and powerful inward force. " number of factors exacerbate /sther s condition: she lost her father when she was a child' her mother fails to understand her' she comes from a poor family' and she feels great and crushing pressure to succeed. -ontradictions in the culture that surrounds her also aggravate /sther s madness. "s a young' talented woman in #$+,s "merica' she is encouraged to be independent and self<sufficient' but is also expected to become a submissive wife and mother. "long with identifying marriage and motherhood as signs of achievement' society also defines female success by physical attractiveness and a home filled with lovely possessions' but /sther feels the emptiness of the fashion maga0ine world she inhabits in 3ew 4or2. )oth personal difficulties and the problems of being an intelligent' sensitive woman plague /sther and fan the flames of her mental illness.

;- I( '+at 'ay &s The %ell &ar a c#0&(/<#)<a/e st#%y9 The Bell Jar revolves around /sther s .ourney of self<discovery. She experiences some of the typical milestones of young womanhood: her first wedding proposal' her first sexual experience' and her first time in a big city. /sther becomes acutely aware that the college phase of her life is about to end and that she must ma2e decisions about her future lifestyle and career. )ut /sther s .ourney does not smoothly progress toward positive self<2nowledge and a growing exercise of her own abilities. *nstead' she suffers a brea2down' and madness disrupts her coming<of<age. )y the end of the novel' /sther feels as if she has been put bac2 together to face the world' but she must live from now on with the memory of her insanity' and with the threat of its return. *n this sense' The Bell Jar could be understood as an anti< coming<of<age story. #&

S.//este, Essay T#1&cs #. What role does /sther s memory of her father play in the storyN &. -hoose a poem by Sylvia Plath and relate its imagery to the imagery of The Bell Jar. %. The Bell Jar is both a true story and a novel. Cescribe the ways in which Plath selects and presents the episodes that she describes to give her narrative dramatic shape. E. There are several recurring images in the novel' such as the bell .ar' the dead baby' and the fig tree. Select one of these images and trace its occurrence from the beginning of the novel to the end' describing how its meaning evolves. +. 7ow does /sther s attitude toward men change over the course of the novelN What role does this attitude play in her madness and recoveryN 8. When /sther tells Cr. 3olan that she hates her mother' Cr. 3olan interprets this statement as a brea2through in /sther s recovery. What role does /sther s mother play in her insanityN What does /sther s attitude toward her mother tell us about /sther herselfN

Articol &http'((www.poetryfoundation.org(%io(sylvia)plath* Sylvia Plath was one of the most dynamic and admired poets of the twentieth century. )y the time she too2 her life at the age of thirty' Plath already had a following in the literary community. *n the ensuing years her wor2 attracted the attention of a multitude of readers' who saw in her singular verse an attempt to catalogue despair' violent emotion' and obsession with death. *n the +ew ,or Times Boo -eview, =oyce -arol !ates described Plath as Oone of the most celebrated and controversial of postwar poets writing in /nglish.O *ntensely autobiographical' PlathPs poems explore her own mental anguish' her troubled marriage to fellow poet Ted 7ughes' her unresolved conflicts with her parents' and her own vision of herself. !n the World $ocialist Web site' (argaret Aees observed' OWhether Plath wrote about nature' or about the social restrictions on individuals' she stripped away the polite veneer. She let her writing express elemental forces and primeval fears. *n doing so' she laid bare the contradictions that tore apart appearance and hinted at some of the tensions hovering .ust beneath the surface of the "merican way of life in the post war period.O !ates put it more simply when she wrote that PlathPs best<2nown poems' Omany of them written during the final' turbulent wee2s of her life' read as if theyPve been chiseled' with a fine surgical instrument' out of arctic ice.O *n the +ew ,or Times Boo -eview, former "merican Poet 1aureate Aobert Pins2y declared' OThrashing' hyperactive' perpetually accelerated' the poems of Sylvia Plath catch the feeling of a profligate' hurt imagination' throwing off images and phrases with the energy of a runaway horse or a machine with its throttle stuc2 wide open. "ll the violence in her wor2 returns to that violence of imagination' a fren0ied brilliance and conviction.O Pins2y further stated that Plath Osuffered the airless egocentrism of one in love with an ideal self.O Cenis Conoghue made a similar observation' also in the +ew ,or Times Boo -eview' OPlathPs #%

early poems' many of them' offered themselves for sacrifice' transmuting agony' PheartPs waste'P into gestures and styles.O Conoghue added that Oshe showed what self<absorption ma2es possible in art' and the price that must be paid for it' in the art as clearly as in the death.O .ictionary of /iterary Biography essayist Thomas (c-lanahan wrote' O"t her most articulate' meditating on the nature of poetic inspiration' QPlathR is a controlled voice for cynicism' plainly delineating the boundaries of hope and reality. "t her brutal bestIand Plath is a brutal poetIshe taps a source of power that transforms her poetic voice into a raving avenger of womanhood and innocence.O )orn in #$%& in )oston' Plath was the daughter of a Derman immigrant college professor' !tto Plath' and one of his students' "urelia Schober. The poetPs early years were spent near the seashore' but her life changed abruptly when her father died in #$E,. Some of her most vivid poems' including the well<2nown OCaddy'O concern her troubled relationship with her authoritarian father and her feelings of betrayal when he died. 5inancial circumstances forced the Plath family to move to Wellesley' (assachusetts' where "urelia Plath taught advanced secretarial studies at )oston 6niversity. Sylvia Plath was a gifted student who had won numerous awards and had published stories and poetry in national maga0ines while still in her teens. She attended Smith -ollege on scholarship and continued to excel' winning a !ademoiselle fiction contest one year and garnering a prestigious guest editorship of the maga0ine the following summer. *t was during her undergraduate years that Plath began to suffer the symptoms of severe depression that would ultimately lead to her death. *n one of her .ournal entries' dated =une &,' #$+@' she wrote: O*t is as if my life were magically run by two electric currents: .oyous positive and despairing negativeIwhichever is running at the moment dominates my life' floods it.O This is an eloFuent description of bipolar disorder' also 2nown as manic depression' a very serious illness for which no genuinely effective medications were available during PlathPs lifetime. *n "ugust of #$+%' at the age of nineteen' Plath attempted suicide by swallowing sleeping pills. She survived the attempt and was hospitali0ed' receiving treatment with electro<shoc2 therapy. 7er experiences of brea2down and recovery were later turned into fiction for her only published novel' The Bell Jar. 7aving made a recovery' Plath returned to Smith for her degree. She earned a 5ulbright grant to study at -ambridge 6niversity in /ngland' and it was there that she met poet Ted 7ughes. The two were married in #$+8. Plath published two ma.or wor2s during her lifetime' The Bell Jar and a poetry volume titled The Colossus. )oth received warm reviews. 7owever' the end of her marriage in #$8& left Plath with two young children to care for and' after an intense burst of creativity that produced the poems in Ariel, she committed suicide by inhaling gas from a 2itchen oven. Timothy (aterer wrote in the .ictionary of /iterary Biography, OThe critical reactions to both The Bell Jar and Ariel were inevitably influenced by the manner of PlathPs death at thirty.O 7ardly 2nown outside poetry circles during her lifetime' Plath became in death more than she might have imagined. Conoghue' for one' stated' O* canPt recall feeling' in #$8%' that PlathPs death proved her life authentic or indeed that proof was reFuired. . . . )ut * recall that P"rielP was received as if it were a bracelet of bright hair about the bone' a relic more than a #E

boo2.O 5eminists portrayed Plath as a woman driven to madness by a domineering father' an unfaithful husband' and the demands that motherhood made on her genius. Some critics lauded her as a confessional poet whose wor2 Ospo2e the hectic' uncontrolled things our conscience needed' or thought it needed'O to Fuote Conoghue. 1argely on the strength of Ariel, Plath became one of the best<2nown female "merican poets of the twentieth century. The writer ". "lvare0' writing in The $avage 0od, believed that with the poems in Ariel, compiled and published by 7ughes' Plath made Opoetry and death inseparable. The one could not exist without the other. "nd this is right. *n a curious way' the poems read as though they were written posthumously.O Aobert Penn Warren called Ariel Oa uniFue boo2' it scarcely seems a boo2 at all' rather a 2een' cold gust of reality as though somebody had 2noc2ed out a window pane on a brilliant night.O Deorge Steiner wrote' O*t is fair to say that no group of poems since Cylan ThomasPs .eaths and 1ntrances has had as vivid and disturbing an impact on /nglish critics and readers as has Ariel. . . . Aeference to Sylvia Plath is constant where poetry and the conditions of its present existence are discussed.O PlathPs growing posthumous reputation inspired younger poets to write as she did. )ut' as Steiner maintained' her Odesperate integrityO cannot be imitated. !r' as Peter Cavison put it' O3o artifice alone could have con.ured up such effects.O "ccording to (c-lanahan' the poems in Ariel Oare personal testaments to the loneliness and insecurity that plagued her' and the desolate images suggest her apparent fixation with self<annihilation. . . . *n Ariel, the everyday incidents of living are transformed into the horrifying psychological experiences of the poet.O *n PlathPs final poems' wrote -harles 3ewman in his The Art of $ylvia Plath, Odeath is preeminent but strangely unoppressive. Perhaps it is because there is no longer dialogue' no sense of P!thernessPIshe is spea2ing from a viewpoint which is total' complete. 1ove and Ceath' all rivals' are resolved as one within the irreversibility of experience. To reverse )la2e' the 7eart 2nows as much as the /ye sees.O "lvare0 believed that Othe very source of QPlathPsR creative energy was' it turned out' her self<destructiveness. )ut it was' precisely' a source of living energy' of her imaginative' creative power. So' though death itself may have been a side issue' it was also an unavoidable ris2 in writing her 2ind of poem. (y own impression of the circumstances surrounding her eventual death is that she gambled' not much caring whether she won or lost9 and she lost.O "s a very young poet Plath experimented with the villanelle and other forms. She had been OstimulatedO by such writers as C. 7. 1awrence' =ames =oyce' 5eodor Costoevs2i' >irginia Woolf' 7enry =ames' Theodore Aoeth2e' /mily Cic2inson' and later by Aobert 1owell and "nne Sexton. She has been lin2ed with 1owell and Sexton as a member of the so<called OconfessionalO school of poetry. Ted 7ughes noted that she shared with them a similar geographical homeland as well as Othe central experience of a shattering of the self' and the labour of fitting it together again or finding a new one.O "t times' Plath was able to overcome the Otension between the perceiver and the thing<in<itself by literally becoming the thing<in<itself'O wrote 3ewman. O*n many instances' it is nature who personifies her.O Similarly' Plath used history Oto explain herself'O writing about the 3a0i concentration camps as though she had been imprisoned there. She said' O* thin2 that personal experience shouldnPt be a 2ind of shut box and mirror<loo2ing narcissistic experience. * #+

believe it should be generally relevant' to such things as 7iroshima and Cachau' and so on.O 3ewman explained that' Oin absorbing' personali0ing the socio<political catastrophes of the century' QPlathR reminds us that they are ultimately metaphors of the terrifying human mind.O "lvare0 noted that the Oanonymity of pain' which ma2es all dignity impossible' was Sylvia PlathPs sub.ect.O 7er reactions to the smallest desecrations' even in plants' were Oextremely violent'O wrote 7ughes. O"uschwit0 and the rest were merely the open wounds.O *n sum' 3ewman believed' Plath Oevolved in poetic voice from the precocious girl' to the disturbed modern woman' to the vengeful magician' to "rielIDodPs 1ioness.O While few critics dispute the power or the substance in PlathPs poetry' some have come to feel that its legacy is one of cynicism' ego<absorption' and a prurient fascination with suicide. Conoghue suggested that Othe moral claims enforced by these poems now seem exorbitant'O adding' OThe thrill we get from such poems is something we have no good cause to admire in ourselves.O (c-lanahan felt that PlathPs legacy Ois one of pain' fear' and traumatic depression' born of the need to destroy the imagistic materiali0ation of PCaddy.PO 3evertheless' the critic concluded' OThe horrifying tone of her poetry underscores a depth of feeling that can be attributed to few other poets' and her near<suicidal attempt to communicate a frightening existential vision overshadows the sha2y techniFue of her final poems. Plath writes of the human dread of dying. 7er primitive honesty and emotionalism are her strength.O -ritics and scholars have continued to write about Plath' and her relationship with 7uges9 a reviewer for the +ational Post reported that in &,,,' there were #,E boo2s in print about Plath. 3ewman considered The Bell Jar a Otesting groundO for PlathPs poems. *t is' according to the critic' Oone of the few "merican novels to treat adolescence from a mature point of view. . . . *t chronicles a nervous brea2down and conseFuent professional therapy in non<clinical language. "nd finally' it gives us one of the few sympathetic portraits of what happens to one who has genuinely feminist aspirations in our society' of a girl who refuses to be an event in anyonePs life. . . . QPlathR remains among the few woman writers in recent memory to lin2 the grand theme of womanhood with the destiny of modern civili0ation.O Plath told "lvare0 that she published the boo2 under a pseudonym partly because Oshe didnPt consider it a serious wor2 . . . and partly because she thought too many people would be hurt by it.O The Bell Jar is narrated by nineteen<year<old /sther Dreenwood. The three<part novel explores /stherPs unsatisfactory experiences as a student editor in (anhattan' her subseFuent return to her family home' where she suffers a brea2down and attempts suicide' and her recovery with the aid of an enlightened female doctor. !ne of the novelPs themes' the search for a valid personal identity' is as old as fiction itself. The other' a rebellion against conventional female roles' was slightly ahead of its time. 3ancy Cuvall 7argrove observed in the .ictionary of /iterary Biography, O"s a novel of growing up' of initiation into adulthood' 2The Bell Jar3 is very solidly in the tradition of the Bildungsroman. Technically' The Bell Jar is s2illfully written and contains many of the haunting images and symbols that dominate PlathPs poetry.O (aterer commented that the boo2 Ois a finely plotted novel full of vivid characters and written in the astringent but engaging style one expects from a poet as fran2 and observant as Plath. The atmosphere of hospitals and sic2ness' of incidents of bleeding and electrocution' set against images of confinement and liberation' unify the novelPs imagery.O 7argrove maintained that the novel is Oa stri2ing wor2 which has contributed to QPlathPsR #8

reputation as a significant figure in contemporary "merican literature. . . . *t is more than a feminist document' for it presents the enduring human concerns of the search for identity' the pain of disillusionment' and the refusal to accept defeat.O /etters 4ome, a collection of PlathPs correspondence between #$+, and #$8%' reveals that the source of her inner turmoil was perhaps more accurately lin2ed to her relationship with her mother. The volume' published by PlathPs mother in #$?+' was intended' at least in part' to counter the angry tone of The Bell Jar as well as the unflattering portrait of PlathPs mother contained in that narrative. "ccording to =anet (alcolm in the +ew ,or er, OThe publication of /etters 4ome had a different effect from the one (rs. Plath had intended' however. *nstead of showing that Sylvia wasnPt Pli2e that'P the letters caused the reader to consider for the first time the possibility that her sic2 relationship with her mother was the reason she was li2e that.O Though 7ughes exercised final editorial approval' the publication of /etters 4ome also cast a new and unfavorable light on numerous others lin2ed to Plath' including 7ughes himself. (alcolm wrote' O)efore the publication of /etters 4ome, the Plath legend was brief and contained' a taut' austere stage drama set in a few blea2' sparsely furnished rooms.O PlathPs intimate letters to her family contain unguarded personal commentary on her college years' writing' despair' friendships' marriage' and children. "fter PlathPs death' The 5t).oesn6t)!atter $uit, a boo2 for children' was also discovered among her papers and published posthumously. The story features (ax 3ix' a resident of Win2elburg' who happily acFuires a modest Owoolly' whis2ery brand<new mustard<yellow suit.O 3icci Derrard wrote in the 7%server, OTherePs no disturbance in the world of Win2elburg: even (axPs desire for a suit is as shallow and clear as the silver stream that runs li2e a ribbon through the valley.O Cespite the lasting impression of PlathPs blea2 art and early death' Derrard concluded that Osmall pieces of happiness li2e this little boo2 remind us of her life.O PlathPs relationship with 7ughes has long been the sub.ect of commentary' not always flattering to 7ughes. 5eminist critics in particular tended to see in PlathPs suicide a repudiation of the expectations placed upon women in the early #$8,s. 5urther criticism attended 7ughesPs guardianship of PlathPs papers' especially when 7ughes admitted that he destroyed some of PlathPs .ournals' including several written .ust prior to her suicide. (aterer felt that 7ughesPs control over PlathPs papersIa right he exercised only because their divorce had not become finalIcaused OdifficultiesO for both critics and biographers. (aterer added' OThe estatePs strict control of copyright and its editing of such writings as PlathPs .ournals and letters have caused the most serious problems for scholars.O Since 7ughesPs death from cancer in #$$@' a new edition of PlathPs .ournals has been published' The 8na%ridged Journals of $ylvia Plath, 9:;<)9:=>. This exact transcription of the poetPs .ournals' from her earliest days at Smith -ollege to the days of her marriage' has been published verbatim' down to her misspellings. O6ncritical admirers of Plath will find much here that is fascinating'O noted !ates. O!ther readers may find much that is fascinating and repellent in eFual measure.O !ates concluded' O1i2e all unedited .ournals' PlathPs may be best read piecemeal' and rapidly' as they were written. The reader is advised to see2 out the stronger' more lyric and exhilarating passages' which exist in enough abundance through #?

these many pages to assure that this presumed final posthumous publication of Sylvia PlathPs is that rarity' a genuine literary event worthy of the poetPs aggressive mythopoetic claim in P1ady 1a0arusPI!ut of the ash/* rise with my red hair/"nd * eat men li2e air.O 7ughes once summari0ed PlathPs uniFue personality and talent: O7er poetry escapes ordinary analysis in the way clairvoyance and mediumship do: her psychic gifts' at almost any time' were strong enough to ma2e her freFuently wish to be rid of them. *n her poetry' in other words' she had free and controlled access to depths formerly reserved to the primitive ecstatic priests' shamans and 7olymen.O The poet continued' OSurveyed as a whole . . . * thin2 the unity of her opus is clear. !nce the unity shows itself' the logic and inevitability of the language' which controls and contains such conflagrations and collisions within itself' becomes more obviously what it isIdirect' and even plain' speech. This language' this uniFue and radiant substance' is the product of an alchemy on the noblest scale. 7er elements were extreme: a violent' almost demonic spirit in her' opposed a tenderness and capacity to suffer and love things infinitely' which was .ust as great and far more in evidence. 7er stormy' luminous senses assaulted a downright practical intelligence that could probably have dealt with anything. . . . She saw her world in the flame of the ultimate substance and the ultimate depth. "nd this is the distinction of her language' that every word is Bara a' the flame and the rose folded together. Poets have often spo2en about this ideal possibility but where else' outside these poems' has it actually occurredN *f we have the discrimination to answer this Fuestion' we can set her in her rightful company.O

&http'((www.poetryfoundation.org(%io(sylvia)plath* www.1iterature study guides. com

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