SCRIBBLE
The Sylvia Plath Effect and Mental Illness
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he ‘Sylvia Plath effect’, coined by James C. Kaufman in 2001, is the theory that female poets are more likely to experience mental illness than other writers. The hypothesis is named after Sylvia Plath (1932 – 1963) who was clinically depressed and treated with electroconvulsive therapy multiple times in her life. On February 11, 1963, Plath committed suicide via carbon monoxide poisoning and died tragically aged 30. Anne Sexton (1928-1974) was another poet of the same time whose works detailed her battles with depression and suicidal tendencies. Sexton herself suffered from bipolar disorder and committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning on October 4, 1973, aged 45. Comparisons between the two have been made, and Sexton is often seen as a poet who was affected by ‘The Sylvia Plath effect’. Much can be said of their similar influences, Sexton wrote that “Sylvia and I would talk at length about our first suicide…”, moreover she encouraged Plath to write from a female perspective, they both also studied under the same mentor – Robert Lowell – who is seen as influential in the development of the ‘confessional poem’.
By Divya Balain
personal nature of the poem as however narcissistic the use of such imagery may come across, it leaves the poem being more authentic and gives the reader the feeling of uncensored, imperfect thoughts. Also a more personal feeling emerges as the intensity seems more honest and thus more ‘confessional’ in nature as Plath portrays herself as a more human, flawed poet focused on overwhelming emotion.
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nother example of a confessional poem is Sexton’s ‘45 Mercy Street', again dealing with personal issues such as her battle with mental illness, childhood memories and adulthood – the poem has the feeling of being extremely personal which is inherent of a confessional poem, with a strong sense of emotion coming out of the intense imagery.
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here is a sense of emotional complexity to the poem as feelings of nostalgia and happiness that come from her memories of ‘Mercy Street’ (repetition of the phrase “I know…” highlights the sense of memory whilst the focus on the “stained-glass window” and “parquet floors” emphasises the idea of familiarity and a location that is so meaningful it has lasted in her memory), are juxtaposed with feelings of anger and frustration that build as the poem continues – nearer the end she moves from asking “where did [the house] go?” to “I don’t care!”. She uses harsh verbs like “bolt” “rip” and “erase” to further craft a sense of resentment at her current situation, they all aid the imagery of destruction that Sexton is establishing, perhaps mirroring the descent of her own mental health and life into tragedy through the loss of her childhood home – she can no longer find it as it is “Not there”. Sexton also writes “I am walking and looking/and this is no dream/just my oily life". This idea of isolation not only conveys the sense of tragedy in her own life at the moment but also perhaps the loss of her ability to view her childhood memories as innocent and joyful as they once were – this is also hinted at in the poem as she writes “and in a generation/the third she will beget/me”, this change in tense further signifying a re-examination of childhood memories, perhaps finding a different meaning in them than before as in the last stanza she states “I pull the dream off/ and slam into the cement wall”.
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onfessional poetry emerged in the 1950s – 1960s and is associated with both Plath and Sexton. It is described as highly personal and deals with more private experiences often in an autobiographical way. For example, Plath’s poem ‘Daddy’ is an example of this type of poetry; it directly addresses her own father (supposedly) and deals with particularly intimate, personal feelings and private relationships. The personal nature of this poem is emphasised by the controversial and perhaps even distasteful use of Holocaust imagery that is prevalent throughout (“An engine, an engine/chuffing me off like a Jew”, “Not God but a swastika/so black no sky could squeak through”). The imagery heightens the idea that her relationship with her father was painful and raw, however the seemingly overwhelming references can be seen as insensitive due to the aligning of a tragic historical mass genocide to a single father/daughter relationship. Despite this, the use of the imagery succeeds in increasing the
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