1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:05,080 Speaker 1: Heart Radio Quick Morning Before we start the show. Today's 3 00:00:05,120 --> 00:00:10,840 Speaker 1: episode contains mention of suicide. Hey y'all, I'm Eves and 4 00:00:10,880 --> 00:00:13,800 Speaker 1: you're listening to This Day in History Class, a podcast 5 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:19,280 Speaker 1: for people interested in the big and small moments in history. Today. 6 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:32,680 Speaker 1: It's January. The day was January four, nineteen sixty three. 7 00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:36,720 Speaker 1: The Bell Jar, the only novel written by poet Sylvia Plath, 8 00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:41,720 Speaker 1: was first published under the pseudonym Victoria Lucas. Sylvia Plath 9 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:44,960 Speaker 1: was born in nineteen thirty two in Boston. Her father 10 00:00:45,080 --> 00:00:47,040 Speaker 1: died when she was a child, and many of her 11 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:50,000 Speaker 1: poems reflect her feelings about her father and his death. 12 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:53,440 Speaker 1: By the time she was a teenager, she was publishing 13 00:00:53,440 --> 00:00:58,320 Speaker 1: stories in poems and magazines. While attending Smith College, Plath 14 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:01,560 Speaker 1: one a fiction contest and got a guest editorship at 15 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:05,399 Speaker 1: the magazine Mademoiselle. At the same time, she was dealing 16 00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:09,480 Speaker 1: with depression. After she attempted suicide at age twenty, she 17 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:14,759 Speaker 1: was hospitalized and treated with electroshock therapy. Plath went back 18 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:18,800 Speaker 1: to Smith after being hospitalized and graduated. She then studied 19 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:22,959 Speaker 1: at Cambridge University on a Fulbright fellowship. There, she met 20 00:01:22,959 --> 00:01:26,000 Speaker 1: Ted Hughes, whom she married in nineteen fifty six and 21 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:29,839 Speaker 1: later had two children with. Plath went on to teach 22 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:33,000 Speaker 1: English at Smith College and published a collection of poems 23 00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:37,319 Speaker 1: called The Colossus. Though she was praised for the craft 24 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:40,840 Speaker 1: and imagery of her poetry, she was also criticized for 25 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:45,119 Speaker 1: lacking a personal voice. Later, though, her poetry became less 26 00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:49,000 Speaker 1: buttoned up and more candid. Her other major work, The 27 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:52,360 Speaker 1: Bell Jar, was first published in London on January four, 28 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:56,600 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty three. Plath had a hard time finding an 29 00:01:56,600 --> 00:01:59,880 Speaker 1: American publisher for it, and it was British publisher Will 30 00:02:00,160 --> 00:02:03,920 Speaker 1: Hyeman who ended up accepting it. She used the pseudonym 31 00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:07,640 Speaker 1: Victoria Lucas to keep from outing the people she fictionalized 32 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:11,880 Speaker 1: and to separate it from her other literary works. Plath 33 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:15,040 Speaker 1: wanted to write something like The Snake Pit, a semi 34 00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:18,720 Speaker 1: autobiographical book by author Mary Jane Ward about a woman's 35 00:02:18,760 --> 00:02:22,640 Speaker 1: recovery from mental illness. The Bell Jar is also a 36 00:02:22,680 --> 00:02:26,840 Speaker 1: semi autobiographical novel, as it's based on her experiences of 37 00:02:26,919 --> 00:02:32,200 Speaker 1: hospitalization and recovery. It's about a woman named Esther Greenwood 38 00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:35,920 Speaker 1: who longs to become a poet as she struggles with 39 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:39,919 Speaker 1: societal expectations placed on women as well as her writing career. 40 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:44,079 Speaker 1: Esther becomes depressed. The story follows Esther as she goes 41 00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:49,120 Speaker 1: through treatment and into recovery. The book received some lukewarm 42 00:02:49,160 --> 00:02:52,880 Speaker 1: in some positive reviews. Today, it's recognized as a book 43 00:02:52,919 --> 00:02:56,760 Speaker 1: that touches on themes of redemption, identity, gender, and the 44 00:02:56,760 --> 00:03:01,600 Speaker 1: oppressions of contemporary American society. Plath had a huge burst 45 00:03:01,600 --> 00:03:04,320 Speaker 1: of creative energy and wrote prolifically at the end of 46 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:07,040 Speaker 1: her life, but less than a month after The Bell 47 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:11,560 Speaker 1: Jar was published, Plath died by suicide. She had been 48 00:03:11,600 --> 00:03:14,240 Speaker 1: sick and left to take care of her children after 49 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:17,320 Speaker 1: she and her husband separated, and she was still struggling 50 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:21,320 Speaker 1: with mental illness. Some of her work was published posthumously, 51 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:25,880 Speaker 1: including the poetry collections Aerial Winter Trees and Crossing the Water. 52 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:29,640 Speaker 1: I'm Eve Chef Coote and hopefully you know a little 53 00:03:29,680 --> 00:03:33,240 Speaker 1: more about history today than you did yesterday. If you're 54 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:37,120 Speaker 1: hungry for more history, you can find us on Twitter, Facebook, 55 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:42,400 Speaker 1: and Instagram at t d I h C Podcast, and 56 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:45,240 Speaker 1: you can send your thoughts are comments to us at 57 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:49,960 Speaker 1: this Day at I Heart Media. Dot com. Thanks for listening. 58 00:03:50,120 --> 00:04:01,200 Speaker 1: We'll see you here again tomorrow with another episode. Yeah. 59 00:04:01,840 --> 00:04:03,880 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the I 60 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:06,600 Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 61 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:07,400 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.