Sylvia Plath: Will the poet always be defined by her death?

 

When I was scrolling throught the page of the BBC Culture, I had no idea what should I write about. So I became really happy, when I noticed article about Sylvia Plath- the writer, who wrote one of my favourite books- „The Bell Jar”. The fact that Sylvia Plath commited suicide, covers her entire career. Most of the critics see her as the one who is doomed to tragedy- like if her whole life, from the beginning had only one ending. Plath became ac icon of rebellious but deppressed woman- her main character in the story, Esther Greenwood is also described in thgis way. It is even more concerning that Plath created Esther as her alter-ego. Her works are linnked in a one way or another with life and death, suffering in everyday life. She is constantly questioning the meaning of life and what people should do with it. But I noticed that if a reader is focusing on the dark side of the Plath’s book and poetry, they are missing one thing- the fact that she is also showing the little drops of beauty in the dark world, that she lived in.

I noticed also, that because of the tragic death she quicly started the stereotype of the depressed woman (of course there is another thing- in this time woman were only starting to create their image as the individuals). Maybe because of this, the new biographies are getting more and more inaccurate. As an amateur, if I want to get to know the artist I simply read their works. At least it is what i do with Sylvia Plath and her poems and „The Bell Jar”.

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20210720-sylvia-plath-the-literary-icon-destined-to-remain-an-enigma