The Collection Biographical Connections By Sylvia Plath

The Collection—Biographical Connections 1. Sylvia Plath worked as a guest editor during the summer of 1953 in New York for the magazine Mademoiselle. Shortly after her stint as a guest editor, she attempted suicide by taking sleeping pills (Sylvia Plath Biography†). 2. Plath recovered after she received treatment at a mental health facility (Sylvia Plath Biography†). 3. Sylvia Plath and poet Ted Hughes married in 1956. They later divorced in 1962 when Hughes left Plath for another woman (Sylvia Plath Biography†). 4. Following her husband’s departure, Plath became deeply depressed and struggled significantly with her mental illness (Sylvia Plath Biography†). 5. On February 11, 1963, just under a month after she published The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath committed suicide (Sylvia Plath Biography†). Sylvia Plath and Esther Greenwood are two very similar people: Both women worked as a guest editor the summer before they attempted to take their life through similar means and both eventually recovered after treatment in a mental health facility. The tone of her final novel is one of depression and sadness which stems from the fact that Sylvia Plath wrote it while she was deeply depressed after the departure of her husband. The events in The Bell Jar were significantly impacted by the events Plath experienced in her life. Reflection Societal demands have long been the source of problems for women. The expectations found in The Bell Jar are no different. Throughout