Sylvia Plath’s Personal Possessions Reveal Her Complex Life
Love Letters and Auction
In a recent auction, personal possessions of the renowned American poet Sylvia Plath sold for over $1 million. The items included love letters to her husband, Ted Hughes, as well as recipe cards and a tarot deck. The auction shed light on Plath’s complex relationship with domesticity and her creative process.
Domestic Life and Cooking
Plath’s recipe cards and rolling pin reflect her love of cooking. Her journals reveal that she frequently entertained guests at home and experimented with various recipes, including classic dishes like chicken fricassee and cherry cobbler. However, Plath’s relationship with domestic life was conflicted. She struggled to balance her creative aspirations with the expectations of a traditional housewife.
Tarot and Writing
Plath’s tarot deck, likely a gift from Hughes, suggests her interest in the occult and its influence on her writing. Some scholars believe she used tarot cards to organize her semi-autobiographical novel, “The Bell Jar,” and her posthumously published poetry collection, “Ariel.” The title of her poem “The Hanging Man” references a specific tarot card.
Love and Passion
The love letters to Ted Hughes reveal the intense passion and love between the couple in the early years of their marriage. In one letter, Plath writes, “My flesh is colder than wet sod… Do you know that you have the most delicious quirked lovely mouth and your eyes crinkle up and you are all warm and smooth and elegantly muscled and long-striding and my god I go mad when I let myself think of you.”
Mental Health and Tragedy
Plath’s struggles with mental health are evident in her journals. In a 1957 entry, she warns herself, “You will escape into domesticity & stifle yourself by falling headfirst into a bowl of cookie batter.” Plath’s tragic death by suicide at age 30 has cast a long shadow over her life and work, but scholars and fans are working to show her in a fuller light.
Rediscovering Plath
In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in Plath’s life and work. The exhibition “One Life: Sylvia Plath” at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery showcased her versatility as a poet, artist, and woman. Writer Rebecca Brill uses Twitter to highlight Plath’s kitchen as a space of joy and fulfillment, challenging theのイメージ of her suicide.
Legacy and Impact
Sylvia Plath’s personal possessions offer a glimpse into her complex and multifaceted life. They reveal her love of cooking, her interest in the occult, her passionate relationship with Ted Hughes, and her struggles with mental health. Her work continues to resonate with readers today, inspiring and challenging them to confront their own experiences of love, loss, and the human condition.