Born in Jamaica Plain, Boston, Massachusetts, Plath graduated from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, and then the University of Cambridge in England, where she was a Fulbright student at Newnham College. In 1959, Plath took a creative writing seminar taught by Robert Lowell at Boston University, alongside poets Anne Sexton and George Starbuck. Within this seminar, Plath, Lowell and Sexton, whilst starting with very different writing styles, each gravitated towards a new style of poetry dubbed confessional for its use of personal experience and its tendency to use a direct form of address. She married fellow poet Ted Hughes in 1956 in London. In 1957, they briefly moved to the United States, but moved back to England in the winter of 1959.
Vie et carrière
Letters written by Plath to her therapist, Dr Ruth Barnhouse, reveal allegations that her husband was physically abusive. These unpublished letters, written between 1960 and 1963, additionally allege emotional abuse. They had two children, Frieda and Nicholas, before separating in 1962.
Plath suffered a lifelong battle with severe depression, often characterized as a bipolar-type illness, leading to multiple traumatic treatments with early model electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). She died by suicide at age 30 in London on February 11, 1963.
Faits clés
- Born: October 27, 1932 in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
- Décès : 1963
- Domaine : Literature
Héritage et influence
The influence of Sylvia Plath extends far beyond her own lifetime. She fundamentally shaped literature and the written word, and her written works and literary innovations remain foundational to this day.
Though she passed away in 1963, her ideas continue to be studied, debated, and built upon by scholars and practitioners worldwide.
Sylvia Plath demeure l'un des esprits les plus célèbres issus de United States, témoignage du riche héritage intellectuel de la région.
Génies notables de United States
United States a donné naissance à de nombreux esprits remarquables. Aux côtés de Sylvia Plath :
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