SYLVIA PLATH Lydia Stratton
CHOOSING A WRITER
Interest from favorite works: The Virgin Suicides White Oleander
Subject Interests: Women and Society Mental Disorders
Previous biographical exposure to Plath.
PLATH’S EARLY LIFE
Born: 1932 in Mass.
1940: Father’s Death
Age 17: controlled writing
August 1950: Seventeen Magazine
1950: Smith College
PLATH’S BELL JAR & COLLEGE YEARS
Smith Review: Editorial Board
Contest and Prizes
Mademoiselle: Guest Editor
Electroshock, Psychotherapy, Hospitalization, Suicide Attempt
PLATH’S MARRIED LIFE & DEATH
Cambridge 1956: Ted Hughes 1958: Rejection from
Fellowship Frieda and Nicholas 1962: Separation Jan 1963: The Bell
Jar February 11th, 1963:
Suicide
THE BELL JAR OVERVIEW
Semi-Autobiographical Early 1950’s Narrator: Esther Greenwood Intern in New York City Disinterest in “Glamorous”
lifestyles Rejection from writing course Life Crisis
THE BELL JAR OVERVIEW CONT.
Psychiatrist Hospitalized: Electroshock
Therapy Trapped under Bell Jar Attempts Suicide Female Psychiatrist Lifting of the Bell Jar
THEMES OF THE BELL JAR
Restricted Roles of Women Mental Illness
WOMEN AND RESTRICTED ROLES Career Vs. Home
“M.R.S.” Degree
Virginity and Promiscuity
Society Rejection
MENTAL ILLNESS
Viewed with Fear
Help in Doses
Support
THANK YOU…
Lydia Stratton