Why should you read Sylvia Plath? - Iseult Gillespie
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0:07 - 0:09“From the tip of every branch,
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0:09 - 0:11like a fat purple fig,
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0:11 - 0:13a wonderful future beckoned and winked…
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0:13 - 0:17but choosing one meant
losing all the rest, -
0:17 - 0:20and, as I sat there, unable to decide,
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0:20 - 0:23the figs began to wrinkle and go black,
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0:23 - 0:27and, one by one, they plopped
to the ground at my feet.” -
0:27 - 0:31In this passage from Sylvia Plath’s
"The Bell Jar," -
0:31 - 0:34a young woman imagines
an uncertain future– -
0:34 - 0:36and speaks to the universal fear
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0:36 - 0:37of becoming paralyzed
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0:37 - 0:41by the prospect of making
the wrong choice. -
0:41 - 0:43Although she considered other careers,
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0:43 - 0:45Plath chose the artist’s way.
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0:45 - 0:47Poetry was her calling.
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0:47 - 0:49Under her shrewd eye and pen,
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0:49 - 0:51everyday objects became haunting images:
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0:51 - 0:54a “new statue in a drafty museum,”
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0:54 - 0:57a shadow in a mirror, a slab of soap.
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0:57 - 1:00Fiercely intelligent,
penetrating and witty, -
1:00 - 1:03Plath was also diagnosed
with clinical depression. -
1:03 - 1:06She used poetry to explore her own states
of mind -
1:06 - 1:08in the most intimate terms,
-
1:08 - 1:11and her breathtaking perspectives
on emotion, -
1:11 - 1:15nature and art continue
to captivate and resonate. -
1:15 - 1:17In her first collection of poems,
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1:17 - 1:18"The Colossus,"
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1:18 - 1:20she wrote of a feeling of nothingness:
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1:20 - 1:23"white: it is a complexion of the mind.”
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1:23 - 1:24At the same time,
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1:24 - 1:26she found solace in nature,
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1:26 - 1:28from “a blue mist” “dragging the lake,”
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1:28 - 1:31to white flowers that “tower and topple,”
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1:31 - 1:34to blue mussels “clumped like bulbs.”
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1:34 - 1:37After "The Colossus" she
published "The Bell Jar," -
1:37 - 1:38her only novel,
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1:38 - 1:42which fictionalizes the time she spent
working for Mademoiselle magazine -
1:42 - 1:44in New York during college.
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1:44 - 1:46The novel follows its heroine, Esther,
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1:46 - 1:49as she slides into a severe
depressive episode, -
1:49 - 1:52but also includes wickedly funny and
shrewd depictions -
1:52 - 1:56of snobby fashion parties
and dates with dull men. -
1:56 - 1:59Shortly after the publication
of "The Bell Jar," -
1:59 - 2:02Plath died by suicide at age 30.
-
2:02 - 2:07Two years later, the collection of poems
she wrote in a burst of creative energy -
2:07 - 2:09during the months before her death
-
2:09 - 2:12was published under the title "Ariel."
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2:12 - 2:14Widely considered her masterpiece,
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2:14 - 2:17Ariel exemplifies the honesty
and imagination -
2:17 - 2:20Plath harnessed to capture her pain.
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2:20 - 2:23In one of "Ariel's" most forceful poems,
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2:23 - 2:28"Lady Lazarus," she explores her attempts
to take her own life through Lazarus, -
2:28 - 2:30the biblical figure who rose
from the dead. -
2:30 - 2:35She writes, “and I a smiling woman/
I am only thirty/ -
2:35 - 2:38And like the cat I have
nine times to die.” -
2:38 - 2:41But the poem is also a testament
to survival: -
2:41 - 2:45“I rise with my red hair/
And I eat men like air.” -
2:45 - 2:49This unflinching language has made Plath
an important touchstone -
2:49 - 2:51for countless other readers and writers
-
2:51 - 2:53who sought to break the silence
-
2:53 - 2:57surrounding issues of trauma,
frustration, and sexuality. -
2:57 - 3:02"Ariel" is also filled with moving
meditations on heartbreak and creativity. -
3:02 - 3:06The title poem begins “Stasis in darkness/
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3:06 - 3:11Then the substanceless blue/
Pour of tor and distances.” -
3:11 - 3:15This sets the scene for a naked ride
on horseback in the early morning— -
3:15 - 3:19one of Plath’s most memorable expressions
of the elation of creative freedom. -
3:19 - 3:22But it is also full of foreboding
imagery, -
3:22 - 3:26such as “a child's cry” that “melts
in the wall” -
3:26 - 3:29and a “red/eye, the cauldron
of morning.” -
3:29 - 3:31This darkness is echoed throughout
the collection, -
3:31 - 3:36which includes controversial references
to the holocaust and the Kamikazes. -
3:36 - 3:41Even the relics of seemingly happier times
are described as crucifying the author: -
3:41 - 3:44“My husband and child smiling out
of the family photo; -
3:44 - 3:49Their smiles catch onto my skin,
little smiling hooks.” -
3:49 - 3:53Her domestic dissatisfaction and her
husband’s mistreatment of her -
3:53 - 3:56are constant themes in her later poetry.
-
3:56 - 3:59After her death, he inherited her estate,
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3:59 - 4:03and has been accused of excluding
some of her work from publication. -
4:03 - 4:07Despite these possible omissions
and her untimely death, -
4:07 - 4:10what survives is one of the most
extraordinary bodies of work -
4:10 - 4:12by a twentieth century poet.
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4:12 - 4:15While her work can be shocking in
its rage and trauma, -
4:15 - 4:18Plath casts her readers as witnesses–
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4:18 - 4:21not only to the truth of her
psychological life, -
4:21 - 4:27but to her astounding ability to express
what often remains inexpressible.
- Title:
- Why should you read Sylvia Plath? - Iseult Gillespie
- Speaker:
- Iseult Gillespie
- Description:
-
View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-should-you-read-sylvia-plath-iseult-gillespie
Under her shrewd eye and pen, Sylvia Plath turned everyday objects into haunting images: a "new statue in a drafty museum," a shadow in a mirror, a slab of soap. Her breathtaking perspectives and unflinching language made her a touchstone for readers seeking to break the silence around issues of trauma, frustration and sexuality. Iseult Gillespie shares why Plath's writing continues to captivate.
Lesson by Iseult Gillespie, directed by Sarah Saidan.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TED-Ed
- Duration:
- 04:30
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