Ted Hughes The Shadow of Sylvia Plath Essay example

As England’s Poet Laureate, and recipient of both the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry and T.S. Eliot’s prize for poetry, Ted Hughes was an acclaimed poet. The shadow of Hughes late wife, Sylvia Plath, kept Hughes stagnant in his career, in which he was known as â€Å"Her Husband† (Middlebrook). Hughes most recent collection of poems, Birthday Letters, took him over twenty-five years to write, and contains poems which recount the marriage of the couple. Hughes wrote the poems as a loving gesture towards Sylvia, but the poems were misinterpreted as â€Å"an attempt to adjust the public record in the wake of her confession and the mass of commentary which has grown up around them† (Spurr 3). Hughes incorporated into his poetry the ideals of†¦show more content†¦After the affair Plath grew increasingly depressed and eventually committed suicide. He said that â€Å"Plaths death was inevitable, she had been on that track most of her life,† but he could not contend with the additional suicide of Wevill in 1969, which he said was â€Å"utterly within her power, and it was an outcome of her reaction to Sylvia’s action,† which led to Wevill’s suicide.† These past horrific experiences strongly affected Hughes future relationships and poetry. Hughes withdrew into seclusion following the suicides of his lovers. He â€Å"was an intensely private man in an era when privacy is not much allowed† (Wagner 17). He stayed out of the spotlight, because, at the time, feminists accused Hughes of causing the suicide of Plath and Wevill. Even before these events occurred, Hughes viewed the world as: †¦a battlefield. His is the world-view of a betrayed Fundamentalist, who, discovering that God has no care for mans fate, understands the universe to be governed not by divine love but by power. In Hughess earlier books, Nature appeared as a field of violent struggle where only the fittest survived. (Ho ffman 6) His father died in World War I, which led to his doubt of religion and his passion for writing about nature. Throughout his life, Hughes felt that the world was a difficult place to live in and after his lovers died, he refuted this idea.Show MoreRelatedPeople s Love At First Sight By Sylvia Plath1567 Words   |  7 Pages People dream of falling in love at first sight. Sylvia Plath, an American writer, experienced the desirable moment the first time she saw Ted Hughes, an English poet (Middlebrook). The romantic relationship between Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath grew instantly. They both shared a love of writing, but yet their relationship began to go downhill five years after their marriage (Popova). The marriage between Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath was destructive because of Sylvia’s unstable mental health and Ted’sRead MoreContributions Of Sylvia Plath1302 Words   |  6 Pagesand development of literature. Sylvia Plath was also a profound writer and one of the most respected poets and prose writer of her time as well. She was once described as â€Å"one of the most celebrated and controversial of postwar poets writing in English† (â€Å"Sylvia Plath†). Many of her poems talked about her own mental issues, her marriage problems, conflicts with her parents that were left unresolved, or her vision of herself. Before her death at the age of thirty, Plath had a multitude of followersRead MoreSylvia Plath was American short-story writer, poet and novelist that was born on October 27, 1932900 Words   |  4 PagesSylvia Plath was American short-story writer, poet and novelist that was born on October 27, 1932 in Boston, Massachusetts and died on February 11, 1963. Sylvia Plath is best known for, her books of poems, â€Å"The Colossus and Other Poems Collection† and the â€Å"Ariel Collection† of Poems.Plath’s poetry was known for its rhyme, alliteration and disturbing and violent imagery. Plath’s poetry is c onsidered part of the Confessional movement, which became very popular in the United States during the 1950sRead Morequot;Sylvia Plath- Feminine Side of the Feminist Iconquot; Essay1576 Words   |  7 Pages Sylvia Plath was a typical example of her generation, inpatient and greedy for life but this description has a bit different meaning. Plath indeed desired artistic fulfilment but she wanted to be an ideal wife and mother at the same time. When Ted Hughes published his first poetry volume The Hawk in the Rain she was very happy that she will follow his footsteps. Throughout their marriage she was in the shadow of her husband and we can argue whether it was her conscious choice and to whatRead MoreHow Sylvia Plaths Life is Reflected in the Poems Daddy, Morning Song, and Lady Lazarus2237 Words   |  9 PagesHow Sylvia Plaths Life is Reflected in the Poems Daddy, Morning Song, and Lady Lazarus Sylvia Plath has had an exciting life, if I can use this word. Her father died from an undiagnosed diabetes when she was eight. At the same time, a short couplet that she wrote was published in the Boston Sunday Herald. Later, she won scholarships to study in Smith, Harvard, and finally Cambridge. There, Plath married Ted Hughes, who was a good poet, too. What amazes me in her lifeRead MoreSylvia Plath s Life And Accomplishments892 Words   |  4 PagesSylvia Plath was born in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts on October 27, 1932. Plath’s family moved to Winthrop, Massachusetts when she was four years old. When she was eight, her father, Otto Plath died, this was same year she published her first poem. Plath was a very hardworking, persistent student in high school. She was soon rewarded after her graduation with many published works and successes. Plath attended Smith College with two scholarships. At Smith, she excelled academically and achieved manyRead MoreWriting Styles of Sylvia Plath Essay1277 Words   |  6 PagesThe Life and Writings of Sylvia Plath After reading and discussing many poets and their written work, I have realized that not only pain, but any emotion that the poet is feeling, plays a large part in how the poems express themselves through their writing. I have chosen to explore Sylvia Plath and the poems she has written and how her pain and personal experiences have influenced her poetry. Similar to many other authors of the twentieth century, Sylvia Plath’s writing was influenced largelyRead MoreDeath Represenataion in Sylvia Plaths Selected Poems2941 Words   |  12 PagesDeath Representation in Sylvia Plaths Selected Poems Mohamed Fleih Hassan Instructor English Dept./ Abstract Death is one of the significant and recurrent themes in the poetry of Sylvia Plath. This paper aims at showing the poets attitudes towards death. Certain poems are selected to show the poets different attitudes to death: death as a rebirth or renewal, and death as an end. Most obvious factors shaped her attitudes towards death were the early death of her father that left her unsecuredRead MoreEssay On Sylvia Plath1607 Words   |  7 Pageshas to offer. Sylvia Plath was a confessional poet, using her personal experiences and very real situations to give â€Å"negative† emotions the artistic charm and characteristics traditionally saved for â€Å"positive† emotions. Her father died in her eighth year of life, and although this event tormented her until her own death, time went on. She married Ted Hughes, the two of them encouraging each other’s careers as much as they could, but still there was tension between them. It was when Plath learnt of herRead More`` Let Me Live, Love, And Say It Well Good Sentences `` Good Sentence ``2052 Words   |  9 Pagesâ€Å"Let me live, love, and say it well in good sentences† (Plath). Sylvia Plath is a confessional poet who is often the subject of her poetry. Throughout the majority of her life Sylvia Plath simply wished to live an ordinary life. However, Plath endured many tragedies during her life that influenced her stylistic approach to poetry; often based off her emotions. In her poems, Plath acquires her central source of influence from her personal life and employs a variety of techniques to brand her message