Short Bio of Poet Sylvia Plath

Sylvia Plath may be one of the most influential modern poets. Born in a middle class family in Boston in 1932, her parents were Otto and Aurelia Plath. Otto met Aurelia while teaching at Boston University and had an affair with her while still married to but separated from his previous wife. Sylvia was the first child the couple had.

At the age of eight her father died, and her first poem was published. Throughout her school career Plath continued to publish works, and by the time she graduated high school she had been published nationally. She graduated as valedictorian of her high school class.

Plath attended Smith college, and had her first bouts of depression soon thereafter. She was published in magazines such as Seventeen and Mademoiselle, and even became guest editor for Mademoiselle before graduating college. At this time she also attempted suicide, and underwent electroshock therapy in 1953 in an attempt to cure her now-diagnosed depression.

Shortly after the therapy she attempted suicide again, this time by swallowing pills that had been locked away. This experience was fictionalized in her work, The Bell Jar, after she was taken to the hospital and treated. She was admitted to a mental hospital and again given shock treatment.

After this she returned to her previous prolific writing, and kept up in her schoolwork as well. She was admitted to Oxford and Cambridge in England for school. At Cambridge she met her eventual husband, poet Ted Hughes. Even at the time he was known to be quite a ladies’ man, and Plath was warned away from him.

When the couple first married, they kept their marriage a secret until Plath was sure that it would not hinder the fellowship she had been given for study. The couple later returned to America, and Plath began teaching at Smith. After only one semester she again became ill and quit.

Plath later had two children with Hughes, and found out about the affairs he had been having. Her marriage with Hughes fell apart, and she began writing more poetry than ever before. Much of her best known work is from this time period. She also published The Bell Jar under a pseudonym, but to warm reviews.