The Second Life of Sylvia Plath: A Loss of Identity
Sylvia Plath was a bright young poet who grew up in a low-class household. She was a 4.0 student and received a full ride merit scholarship at Smith College, but she later committed suicide at the age of 30. At the age of 19, she experienced a deep depression after returning from a summer internship at and being rejected from a summer writing course at Cambridge. Plath wrote The Bell Jar based on her feelings and inner thoughts while finding herself while experiencing a loss of identity. During her internship she meets three women who represent the different paths of which women were most likely to pursue during this era. Betsy represents the typical 1950’s woman; She represents the mother and housewife. Jay Cee, the editor of Ladies Day Magazine, represents the career woman. Doreen represents the gorgeous party animal who takes nothing seriously. During the uproar of the postmodern era and the second wave feminist movement, women were only able to pick one of these paths. Plath centers her loss of identity towards her desire to be both a career woman and a mother, which is characterized as an identity fragmentation. The third wave feminist movement, which took place during the 90’s, enabled women to have a dual identity. Moreover, advertisements and media have come a long way since Plath’s dead. There are multiple hypersexual examples of female celebrities who embrace their inner feminist by wearing risky clothing, thus showing a control of their life and body through their choice of clothing. However, by doing so they have objectified themselves to the sexual desires of men. As a society we have progressed regarding female empowerment, mainly with their ability to be and dress how they want. But we still have a long way to go with regard what Plath refers as men seeing women as sex objects. The Bell Jar has allowed many young women to relate to one another regarding identity fragmentation and self-discovery. It also acts as a reminder of the lives that never were and what could have been.
IDS 251, Seminar On Postmodern Literature, Art, Film, and Music
Lanta Davis
L203
11:00 – 11:30 AM