Sylvia Plath inspires us all in various and wonderful ways. She is in many respects a form of comfort to us, which is something that Esther Greenwood expresses in The Bell Jar , about a bath: "There must be quite a few things a hot bath won't cure, but I don't know many of them. Whenever I'm sad I'm going to die, or so nervous I can't sleep, or in love with somebody I won't be seeing for a week, I slump down just so far and then I say: 'I'll go take a hot bath.'" We read and remember Sylvia Plath for many reasons, many of them deeply personal and private. But we commemorate her, too, in very public ways, as Anna of the long-standing Tumblr Loving Sylvia Plath , has been tracking, in the form of tattoos. (Anna's on Instagram with it too, as SylviaPlathInk .) The above bath quote is among Sylvia Plath's most famous. It often appears here and there and it is stripped of its context. But I think most people will know it is from her nove...
Thank you for linking to the essay Peter, it was most interesting and added contextual layers to the poem which I am now rereading. Hope the letter project is going brilliantly and wait for news on its release.
ReplyDeleteI love this! Just like Trinidad's piece Hidden in Plain Sight, it reads like an intellectual mystery. I don't know that I've ever commented here before, but thank you so much Peter for keeping up the good work. I've learnt so much through the years.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderfully insightful essay, thanks for sharing it Peter. Nothing to do now but re-read "Lesbos" in the Restored Edition, within the context it was intended.
ReplyDeleteRichard Marsh