Biography and works of Sylvia Plat

The short and bright life of the poetess Sylvia Plat has been stirring the minds of the public for 50 years. Her idolized, remembered and honored. Although her legacy is only a couple of collections of poems and one novel, several dozen books have been written about her work and life, and even a film has been shot.

early years

The future writer was born on October 27, 1932. The childhood of Sylvia Plat passed under the sign of adoration and devotion to the father. He was a professor at Boston University, a well-known researcher of bees, an emigrant from Germany and a very authoritarian person. The girl was under his strong influence, perceived him as God. Sylvia's mother was much younger than her husband, she came from Austria and worked as a teacher of German in the school of Brooklyn.

My father worked hard, my mother was engaged in the younger brother of Sylvia, who was sick a lot, and the girl was most of the time given herself. She passionately dreamed of deserving the love of her father and found the only way to do it - to study "perfectly". When she was eight years old, her father died. He suffered from diabetes, but he convinced himself that he, like his friend, had cancer in the last stage, and therefore did not consult a doctor. When gangrene swept her leg, his wife insisted on treatment, but the surgical procedure was unsuccessful, and Otto Plat died. For Sylvia this was a terrible shock, she experienced this loss for many years, saying that she had lost the opportunity to speak with God. The theme of the loss will later become important for Plat, in 1962 she will write a poem "Daddy", in which he accuses his father of abandoning it.

School years

After the death of her husband, Aurelia Plat was forced to work very hard, she did not have a relationship with her daughter, later Sylvia would say that she felt hatred for her mother. The family moved to Wellesley, and the girl went to Bradford's school, where she had been the best student for years. She showed brilliant success in the English language, especially she succeeded in creative assignments, and she was also the editor of a school newspaper.

From early childhood, the girl showed a talent for writing, at the age of eight, the first poem by Sylvia Plath was published in the newspaper. From 11 years she constantly wrote stories and sent them to the US magazines. By the end of the school she already wrote about five dozen stories, 9 of which were published. In addition, the girl gave her hopes in painting, she even won a prize at an art contest. From the age of 12 she kept a diary, recording her thoughts and life events.

Studying in college

At the end of the school, Sylvia Plat was able to receive a scholarship to study at the prestigious Smith College in Massachusetts. She was happy, hoping for a happy change, but in college she still had to experience the pressure of the environment, which did not want to tolerate her talent and unusual. Her diaries of this period indicate that during these years, Sylvia experienced a great creative uplift, they contain many sketches of poems and stories, many reflections, plans for the future.

Creativity Plat during this period is characterized by harmony, imagery. At this time she is working hard on poetic technique, striving to create a perfect text. Since 1950, she regularly publishes articles, short stories and poems in national-level journals and newspapers. At the same time she brilliantly studied, from the second year all the professors were delighted with her. Sylvia receives a scholarship, and also wins the Mademoiselle magazine contest for a month's internship in New York. She worked as a freelance correspondent, and the events of this month will subsequently form the basis of her novel "Under the Glass Hood".

Nervous exhaustion and the first attempt at suicide

Despite the fact that the internship was successful, Sylvia returned from New York in a broken state. She falls into depression, loses the ability to write and feels her utter worthlessness. All this was aggravated by the fact that she was denied the opportunity to take a summer course at Harvard, and she did not have enough scholarships to study at Smith College, and she was forced to transfer to a less prestigious college in Lawrence. All this emotionally exhausted Sylvia. Her personal and psychic characteristics were such that she could only create herself into a frenzy. She subconsciously interpreted the events of life so that all of them turned into tragedy.

The summer of 1953 will later be described in the novel of Sylvia, where she will tell that she could not at this time think, write, communicate with people. August 24, she makes an attempt at suicide. She swallows sleeping tablets, but loses consciousness and does not have time to finish what she started. She is rescued and sent to a psychiatric clinic. The restoration of Sylvia Plat took a whole year. She was subjected to painful electroshock treatment, and by the spring of 1954 she returned to a decent form and even decided to return to school. She manages to fulfill her dream and go on a summer course to Harvard. In the same year she finds a friend in the person of Richard Sassoon.

Cambridge

Completing his studies in college, Sylvia writes an outstanding thesis on twinning in Dostoevsky's work. This work was very highly appreciated, and she gets the opportunity to continue her studies in Cambridge. The university made a very favorable impression on the girl, she studies with pleasure, studies at the theater studio. She only badly hurts the climate - from the English weather she is sick a lot, which undermines her strength. At this time, she is waiting for a blow - Richard Sassoon, with whom she spent a romantic vacation in Paris, decided to break off relations with her. Sylvia is very worried, but her work is saved: she writes a lot of poetry, publishes articles, stories. Sylvia Plath, whose books in the future is waiting for world fame, constantly felt uncertainty in herself and in her work, this led to fluctuations in her mood.

Family life

In the winter of 1956 she met a young poet Ted Hughes, the couple became very close, writers had much in common, all this led to falling in love. And in the summer, young people get married, spend the summer in Spain, and then return to Cambridge. Sylvia at this time not only learns, but, in fact, is the secretary of her husband. She helps him publish the book and get the first prize at the contest of the New York Poetry Center.

Under the influence of her husband formed an original poetess Sylvia Plat, whose works acquire a new sound and perfect form. After graduation, the couple moves to the US, where Sylvia works as a teacher. This work exhausted her and prevented her from doing creative work.

In 1959, the couple returned to Britain due to the fact that Sylvia became pregnant, and Hughes wanted the child to be born on the land of his ancestors. Uneasy time for a woman - pregnancy - is complicated for the poetess by complex relationships with her husband's family, especially with his sister.

In 1960, Sylvia gave birth to a daughter, at the same time she signed a contract to publish a book of poems The Colossus & Other Poems. Time for creativity was sorely lacking, and Plat was very worried about this. However, by 1961 she was developing a new rhythm of life, now she writes early in the morning, while everyone is asleep, and she is visited by a violent creative period - she writes whole series of poems and stories.

Novel

At the end of 1961, Sylvia received a grant to write the first novel. She works on the book for 70 days. So the world received an outstanding novelist named Sylvia Plat. "Under the glass cap" - a novel that will become a cult, but after the author's death. The book comes out under a pseudonym, because it had a lot of autobiographical. The novel will later become a true mouthpiece of feminism, the book will be re-published, studied and re-read. But Sylvia could not live to see this triumph.

Sad end

In the autumn of 1962, the poet, who learned about the betrayal of her husband, is filing for divorce and remains alone with two children in a cold house. Verses of Sylvia Plat of this period convey the strongest experiences of a woman, she is tormented by the betrayal of her husband. Almost at one go she writes 26 poems that will be put together in the posthumous collection "Ariel".

The psychic can not withstand tension, and on February 11, 1963, she ends with herself, having drunk a sleeping pill and being poisoned with gas. This act caused the effect of Sylvia Plath: many young women also made suicidal attempts, in particular, the mistress of Ted Hughes, on whom he married after Sylvia, committed suicide in the same way.

The creative heritage of Sylvia Plat

After only 30 years, Sylvia left a small but very significant legacy. Her novel and diaries survived more than one reprint. In the list of classical authors of the USA, Silvia Plat is not the last. "Winter landscape with rooks", "Daddy", "November Cemetery", "Early Care" and other poems make the pride of American literature to this day. Sylvia Plat (FB2, TXT, PDF - formats in which you can download her books) is not very well known in Russia, but over the years her popularity in our country is increasing.