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Ted Hughes' recent work as a prism for re-reading Sylvia Plath
Author
Bong, Emily Yann Fang
Supervisor
Wong, Patricia
Abstract
Had Sylvia Plath not been lost to the world at such a premature age, the influence of her poetry and prose upon the literary world might have taken a significantly different course. Plain for all to see, Plath's poems took flight very soon after news of her death had been publicized and vicarious interest in the details of this female persona's life had been stirred. In my opinion, though, this attention given posthumously to Plath's poems does not signify an inherent inadequacy in her work. Plath's poetry was typical of an emerging brand of poetry which tried to liberalize the female experience in a claim which emphasized its viability as a means for producing meaningful poetry. Akin to many female poets struggling to write during the watershed years of the late fifties and early sixties, Plath felt challenged, as Adrienne Rich and Anne Sexton would have felt, to create her own form and structure for the poetic material which she was dealing with.
Plath's feminist viewpoint expressed in her poems (although she did not set out consciously to write "feminist poetry" and also considering the feminist movement had not yet begun) caused quite a number of male critics to dismiss her poetry as inconsequential and pithy, not worth any serious attention. Such poetry, though, was well received by women who saw themselves as belonging to the marginalized sex. Plath pointed the way forward for other emerging feminist writers, even though labelling her as a pioneer feminist of sorts brought about certain contradictions due to her suicide. Plath's poetry has thus been intricately tied up with issues of gender politics, and to complicate matters further, her husband, Ted Hughes, was an eminent English poet whom some accused of causing the death of Plath because of his infidelity.
The camps of alignment in support of Plath and Hughes is thus not simply gender-based, it also has its roots in literary elitism, where support for Hughes may also be rendered because to stand on Plath's side means implicit support for her literary "deviance", if I may term it that way.
My introductory chapter sets out to establish the viewpoints of those who stand on either side of the Plath-Hughes controversy and where their prejudices may lie. Considering Hughes' silence and unwillingness to address issues concerning the death of his wife, much of what we have come to accept as Hughes' points of view before the publication of Birthday Letters, has largely been based on speculation. Hence, with the publication of Birthday Letters, which was written for his dead wife, I see the impetus for this thesis in terms of how the poetry in this collection may be constructive in throwing new light upon Ted Hughes' perspective as well as on the Sylvia Plath whom we have come to know throughout these years. Most importantly, this is the voice of Ted Hughes finally speaking some thirty years after the death of his wife.
Plath's feminist viewpoint expressed in her poems (although she did not set out consciously to write "feminist poetry" and also considering the feminist movement had not yet begun) caused quite a number of male critics to dismiss her poetry as inconsequential and pithy, not worth any serious attention. Such poetry, though, was well received by women who saw themselves as belonging to the marginalized sex. Plath pointed the way forward for other emerging feminist writers, even though labelling her as a pioneer feminist of sorts brought about certain contradictions due to her suicide. Plath's poetry has thus been intricately tied up with issues of gender politics, and to complicate matters further, her husband, Ted Hughes, was an eminent English poet whom some accused of causing the death of Plath because of his infidelity.
The camps of alignment in support of Plath and Hughes is thus not simply gender-based, it also has its roots in literary elitism, where support for Hughes may also be rendered because to stand on Plath's side means implicit support for her literary "deviance", if I may term it that way.
My introductory chapter sets out to establish the viewpoints of those who stand on either side of the Plath-Hughes controversy and where their prejudices may lie. Considering Hughes' silence and unwillingness to address issues concerning the death of his wife, much of what we have come to accept as Hughes' points of view before the publication of Birthday Letters, has largely been based on speculation. Hence, with the publication of Birthday Letters, which was written for his dead wife, I see the impetus for this thesis in terms of how the poetry in this collection may be constructive in throwing new light upon Ted Hughes' perspective as well as on the Sylvia Plath whom we have come to know throughout these years. Most importantly, this is the voice of Ted Hughes finally speaking some thirty years after the death of his wife.
Date Issued
2001
Call Number
PS3566.L27 Bon
Date Submitted
2001