I need something that is full with Sylvia's spirit and feelings. I tried to read her journal once but I don't find myself really enjoying journals.

I just bought my friend a copy of The Collected Poems. I was looking to highlight some of the best ones and even see if there were any poems about love/friendship. Do any specific poems come to mind? Thanks so much!

They’re in my “to-read” pile 🙂‍↕️

I seek the generous aid of this subreddit in helping me with an idea to make the soon coming birthday of my English professor special. She holds a very dear and real value in my life and was the one who introduced me and made me fall in love with the lore of Sylvia Plath. We currently reside in far away corners of the planet and therefore and materialistic gift will be off limits but I still want suggestions to make it special in Sylvia Plath themed style if possible and won't shy away in spending some money too. Please please please help me, it will mean a lot to me and eventually her.

one of my favorite short excerpts from the bell jar. i think about this very often

I think Sylvia Plath had a hard time functioning in the roles for a woman and housewife in her 20s and also trying to be an authentic artist coping with depression. I explore that idea and read some of her poetry in my video:

https://youtu.be/2ztoIgN_gRk?si=TUb_1SCRde0bazZQ

Does anyone know why the date says ‘54 and not ‘53? Am I misunderstanding something?

I don't even remember the general topic, but a section of it was devoted to "Edge" and its mystifying closing line, "Her blacks crackle and drag". The author called it "a terrifying riddle" and ended up with the conclusion that "the sound is the terror of meaning and the absence of meaning" - I remember these lines very clearly. I thought it was written from a Lacanian/Kristevan perspective but I might be mixing it up with "The Reading (and) the Late Poems of Sylvia Plath" by Paul Mitchell which also dwells on the use of assonance in her last poems.

Google didn't help, so I'm not sure if the article is online anymore. I seem to remember that it was written in the 2000's, and the author was a woman, or at least had a female-sounding name. Thanks in advance!

On a side note, if you're familiar with of any papers analyzing "The Couriers", I'd appreciate your suggestions as well.

hi everyone, i want to start reading the bell jar but I cannot find anything online wether it‘s important or better to read the book in its original language english or if it doesn’t matter and I‘d be fine reading it in german. maybe someone has already had experience with it :)

I’m conducting research on specific themes in poetry and would love your insights on Sylvia Plath’s works. I’m particularly interested in identifying her poems that explore any of the following themes:

1. Perceived burdensomeness
2. Thwarted belongingness
3. Hopelessness (especially as it relates to the first two themes)

If you know of any Plath poems that fit into these categories, please mention the poem and the category it falls under.

I read George: A magpie memoir (more captivating than I’d expected) then I bought myself this poetry book yesterday. Although I enjoyed reading it, it is a brief work that only touches on the surface of her experiences. I was also surprised by the insights into Hughes's relationship with her stepmother Carol, which I had not encountered elsewhere. However, the collection seems to lack self-reflection and offers little resolution to the various issues she presents from her life. What’s your favourite read by Frieda Hughes?

Hello. She's American but uses words like kerb, technicolour, storey, dishevelled, which are British people use. I know she lived and died in somewhere in UK, but why? Was it normal for Yanks living in UK to use British spellings in 50s and 60s? This bothers me alot rn.

My stupid guess is she wanted to be British and not proud of being American. I once heard in some audio record her saying "I'm American unfortunately"

It's hard to believe there's no answer for it on Reddit and Google.

Little extra info : I Haven't visited this sub, never read any other works by her therefore don't know if she used British spellings in other works.

https://allpoetry.com/Letter-In-November

Born on 27 October 1932 in Jamaica Plain, Boston MA, the poet would have been 92 on this day.

She shares a birthday with Dylan Thomas, born on this day in 1914.

https://allpoetry.com/A-Birthday-Present

Has anyone read Lover of Unreason? I just finished the book today and it completely changed the way I saw Assia Wevill and I was fuelled with more rage towards Hughes. By no means I want to disrespect him, but in this part where he compares writing openly about his former love with adultery, it’s kind of absurd to me. I’m not sure if he was capable of being faithful to his second wife at the late years of his life or not, but he seems to be oblivious of what he did to the women who loved him. I don’t see anyone talk much about Assia on reddit. Wondering what do you think of her and anyone has ever come to her gravesite?

Hello! Title basically says it all - I never go to study her work at school or university, so I'm just wondering what people think are topics of research which are overdone, and which people would love to see more research put into when dicussing Plath and her works? I'd love to have some more scholarly background, so thank you in advance!

Just finished ‘Red Comet.’ What a tremendous read. I happened upon it in a Half-Priced books and had to have it. Kind of an intimidating read (almost 1,000 pages) but it flew by. I loved it.

I’ve never been really knowledgeable about reading and analyzing poetry, but I love ‘The Bell Jar’ and I do enjoy some of her poems, and I’m trying to get into it more. I’ve got ‘Ariel’ and am now reading her unabridged journals. I’ve always been enamored/fascinated with her and her life.

Anyways, back to the point of the post.

I’m a huge Beatles fan.

I knew she died in 1963, but didn’t know the exact date. But it turns out she died Feb. 11, 1963, which turns out is the very day, in the very same city, the Beatles went into the studio and recorded almost the entirety of their very first studio album ‘Please Please Me.’

Idk, I just found that really crazy.. on the very same day. I found it fascinating how she had somewhat of an obsession with death and rebirth cycles. And then her passing and the Beatles taking flight on the same day kind of being the death and birth of cultural generations. Freaky.

Cheers

As a teenager that's just recently delving into classic novels and want to read Sylvia Plath as I've seen many of her quotes pass by my socials and feel connected to those of her quotes, I've gotten quite intrigued by her and want to read one of her books. I've heard a lot about The Bell Jar but a quote from The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath very much had me hooked so I don't know which one to buy first? I'd be glad to get some help here, thank you!

I’m reading Red Comet and Plath’s journal at the same time and admittedly, I feel heavy to go through the books and vowed not to drop them regardless. I’m deeply fascinated by both of these two books but as a very empathetic person, I feel haunted by the tragic that Plath went through. Reading about Ted Hughes being so full of love in the early marriage to a complete a** h*** in the end wrecked me. There is also another book called Loving Sylvia Plath that I’d love to read but find it hard to bring myself to do it. Anyone went through the same experience? How did you snap yourself out of this heavy feeling towards Plath’s story?

after dreaming about getting a tattoo for the past seven years since ive read all of her literature i finally got it🥹 only time i ever felt "seen" or not outcasted was in her writing so i got a tattoo of a bell jar with a fig tree and a cute floral it says I am, I am, I am, all references to her novel other than the floral thats there to fill space and look cute lmao it covers majority of scars too which i love

GUYS I JUST REALIZES SMTH WHILE I WA READING THE BELL JAR

YKNOW HOW ESTHER GREENWOOD KEEPS SAYING “I AM” IN THE BELL JAR? AND HOW SHE SAID SHE TOOK A DOSTOYEVSKY COURSE?

“I AM”

THE CHARACTER DIMITRI WENT ON A WHOLE RANT ABOUT HOW THERE WAS A LIFE IN THE CONCEPT OF BEING

“ AND IT SEEMS TO ME THAT THERE IS SO MUCH OF THIS STRENGTH IN ME NOW THAT SHALL VANQUISH EVERYTHING, ALL OF THE SUFFERING, ONLY SO THAT I MAY KEEP SAYING TO MYSELF CONSTANTLY: "1 AM!" I MAY ENDURE A THOUSAND TORMENTS - YET I AM, I MAY WRITHE UNDER TORTURE - BUT ? AM I MAY SIT IN A TOWER, BUT I EXIST, I CAN SEE THE SUN, BUT EVEN IF I CANNOT SEE THE SUN, I KNOW THAT IT EXISTS. AND TO KNOW THAT THE SUN ITHERE - THAT IS ALREADY THE WHOLE OF LIFE.”

SYLVIA PLATH TWISTED THE CONCEPT INTENTIONALLY BY MAKING “I AM” SEEM LIKE A DEPRESSING REASON TO NOT LIVE, IN CONTRAST OF THE ORIGINAL MEANING