Sylvia Plath Mental Illness

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Sylvia Plath was one of the most recognized poets of the twentieth century. She was the daughter of Otto Plath and Aurelia Schober and the wife of fellow poet Ted Hughes. Her brilliance in poetry can be stemmed from her conflicting relationship with her parents along with her failed marriage. She began to suffer from depression and bipolar disorder as she neared her suicidal death at the age of thirty. Many believe that her mental illness is what allowed her to produce admiral writings. This is a common theory pertaining to all well-known poets. Some studies have shown that people suffering from mental illnesses tend to be more creative however professionals in this field of study might disagree. Whether mental disorders link to creativity or not, …show more content…

The excruciating requirements of a single mother during this time caused the affects of her mental illness to increase. She became so mentally sick that she successfully took her own life (Sylvia Plath). As I read about Plath’s life and of her poem “Daddy,” I became drawn into a deep thought about mental illnesses. A person can be so infected with the illness that it brings out brilliance in them. One mentally stable person could not possibly write those violent, if that be the best word to describe it, poems because they have not experienced it. One’s emotional experiences affect their brain, and when someone goes through a traumatizing event or life, it greatly affects who they are and how they think. I am fascinated to become aware of how mental illnesses can influence one’s thought process. I am unable to directly relate to Sylvia Plath because I have not suffered a mental illness, and I have not been in close contact with someone who is fighting or has fought one before. Learning about Sylvia Plath opened my eyes somehow. I found it helpful to discover more about her and her story before making sense of her

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