American+Poet-+Sylvia+Plath

= Sylvia Plath =

On October 27, 1932, Sylvia Plath was born in Boston, Massachusetts. She was the daughter of Aurelia Schober and Otto Plath who met while Schober was a student and Plath was a professor at Boston University. In 1940, when Sylvia was eight years old, her father died as a result of complications from diabetes. He was a strict father and drastically defined Sylvia’s poetry, even in death. He influenced her to write one of her most infamous poems, “Daddy.” Throughout her life, Plath was always persistant. She was driven to succeed, even in her youth. She was writing poetry since age 11 and was published after finishing high school. She later attended Smith College and was an exemplary student, despite her depression and a subsequent suicide attempt. She graduated in 1955 and later moved to Cambridge, England, on a Fulbright Scholarship. In early 1956, while attending a party, Plath met the English poet, Ted Hughes. By June 16th of 1956, they were wed. In 1960 and 1962, she gave birth to her two children, Frieda and Nicholas Hughes. Later in 1962, Ted Hughes left Plath for Assia Gutmann Wevill. That summer, Plath fell into a deep depression which inspired her famous book, “Ariel.” On February 11, 1963, during one of the worst English winters on record, she wrote a note to her downstairs neighbor telling him to call the doctor. She then committed suicide using her gas oven. After her death, Ted Hughes inherited Plath’s literary works. While there has been some speculation about how he handled her papers and her image, he did edit what is considered by many to her greatest work, Ariel. It featured several of her most well-known poems, including "Daddy" and "Lady Lazarus." Plath is often associated with the Confessional movement and is compared to such poets as her teacher, Robert Lowell, and fellow student Anne Sexton. Her works usually involve intense imagery and playful use of alliteration and rhyme. Plath also won the Pulitzer Prize in 1982 for Collected Poems. She is still a highly regarded and much studied poet to this day.

Works Cited "Sylvia Plath Biography." //Bio.com//. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 02 May 2013. . "Sylvia Plath." //Poets.org//. The Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 02 May 2013. .