Sylvia Plath and Rebirth

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer discusses that despite her lifelong struggle with depression, Sylvia Plath was able to make herself one of the most important poets of the twentieth century. The writer maintains that writing poetry and literature seemed to be a way for Plath to break free of the depression that was destroying her and it was a way for her to explore the beauty and happiness in the world as well as the darkness and despair. The writer discusses that Plath used her poetry to explore issues of rebirth even as she was getting to the point of taking her own life. The writer concludes that Plath's poetry should not be viewed as a reflection of her bouts of depression, but rather a reflection of her struggle against her depression.

From the Paper:

"Throughout her adult life, Plath struggled to overcome dark moods and what seemed to be an obsession with death. In 1953, at the age of twenty, her mother took her to a psychiatrist shortly after discovering that she had cut her own legs. Months earlier, Sylvia Plath had spent several weeks in New York as a guest editor at Mademoiselle Magazine. This experience seemed to have been a turning point in her life in which she had difficulty handling the pressure she put on herself. The self-mutilation was merely a symptom of this and the psychiatrist quickly diagnosed her as suffering from severe depression. Already, she had contemplated the suicide that would eventually be her fate, as her diaries showed."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Annas, Pamela J. "The Self in the World: The Social Context of Sylvia Plath's Late Poems." Women's Studies 7:1, 171-83.
• Folsom, Jack. "Death and Rebirth in Sylvia Plath's 'Berck-Plage.'" http://www.sylviaplath.de/plath/jfolsom.html
• Lindberg-Seyersted, Brita. "Sylvia Plath's Psychic Landscapes." English Studies, 71:6 (December 1990) 509-22.
• Plath, Sylvia. "Poppies in October." http://www.poemhunter.com/p/m/poem.asp?poem=29373
• Plath, Sylvia. "Pursuit." http://www.poemhunter.com/p/m/poem.asp?poet=6642&poem=33174

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