Word: plath
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...biography, Alexander does quote Gloria Steinem's suggestion that "Plath was an early prophet who described a societal problem by describing her own suffering." What has made The Bell Jar so significant is conceivably that the constriction of freedom inherent in a woman's life was brought home to Plath during her Smith years and intensified by her infamous month at Mademoiselle...
Alexander unflinchingly targets Plath's husband, Ted Hughes, as a major factor in her suicide. From his first mention of Hughes, his violence, power and promiscuity are emphasized. What finally persuades the reader are Alexander's use of statements made by Plath: "Sylvia also said Hughes made an admission: he and Assia [his mistress] had speculated that, in light of her past emotional problems, Sylvia might already have killed herself. If she were dead, Hughes told Plath, he could sell Court Green and take Frieda [their daughter...
When Alexander presents personal statements like this one or anecdotes of the people who knew Plath best, the reader receives moments of illumination, and a better understanding of the circumstances in which she lived. Too often, however, Alexander draws glib conclusions that are plainly intrusive: "She realized just how disappointing the Mademoiselle experience had been. And, in an act of transference, she came to see herself as having disappointed others...
Alexander's unsubstantiated psychoanalyzing is unproductive. His constant attention to "novelistic" narrative frustrates any attempt to engage directly in Plath's experiences, which are powerful enough to speak to the reader without Alexander's amplification...
Whereas many biographers use the poet's life as background for their work, Alexander chooses to present Plath's whole existence and her body of work merely as a prelude to her death. In doing so the author seems to be responding to the cult-like obsession which has surrounded Plath's premature and tragic suicide. By contrast, when Alexander quotes a critic who maintains that The Ariel Poems are ultimately "works of great artistic purity," the reader realizes that Plath's texts need not be considered solely as an explanation of her demise...