- American poet and writer
- Moved from Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts to Wellesley Massachusetts when her father died died from diabetes (she was 8) - left it untreated for too long (convinced he had lung cancer)/ complications happened when he had to have his foot amputated - "sealed themselves off like a ship in a bottle—beautiful inaccessible, obsolete, a fine, white flying myth”
- travelled to NYC in the 50s/ downward spiralled - wanted to meet Dylan Thomas (majour inspiration/ couldn’t) - slit legs to check if courage to commit suicide
- first suicide attempt - 1953 - unfound in for 3 days - "blissfully succumbed to the whirling blackness that I honestly believed was eternal oblivion."
- Clinically depressed (most of adult life) - treated with electroconvulsive therapy (and insulin shock treatment)
- Moved to England with husband (Ted Hughes - separated / children - Frieda and Nicholas)
- best known for confessional poetry (very personal and revealing) - look up ‘The Colossus and Other Poems’ and ‘Aerial’. Also ‘The Bell Jar’ (semi - autobiographical and published after death. Did she want it to be published?
- Many more suicide attempts to come (including car accident) - caught husband having affair
- Died of carbon monoxide poisoning after putting her head in the oven (sealed the room between her and her children with wet towels)
imagery in poems - the moon, blood, hospitals, fetuses, and skulls
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