on my horrified questioning, she replied ‘I just wanted to see if I had the guts’ Then she grasped my hand-hers was burning hot to the touch- and cried passionately ‘Oh Mother, the world is so rotten! I want to die! Lets die together!’” So was that in 1953, Sylvia Plath suffered a nervous break down. After some more attempts at suicide, she was hospitalized in the psychiatric wing of the Massachusetts General Hospital. Her association with patients who were sicker than her actually caused her to get even sicker. She was transferred to McLean Hospital where a series of insulin shots and shock treatment apparently cured her. Sylvia went on to continue her education at Smith College, and then later received the Fulbrite grant to study at Cambridge University.The two years in Cambridge seemed to be happy ones for Sylvia. In February 1956, she met the poet Ted Hughes, and they took an instant liking to each other. Sylvia traveled around Europe and dated various other men, and yet she could not shake off her particular liking for Ted. Sylvia and Ted finally got married on June 13, 1956 in London. They worked in England and hoped to return to America once Sylvia’s studies were completed. Sylvia got a job teaching at Smith college, and her and her husband settled back down in the United States. Both pursued their writing careers and worked off and on until they finally decided to return to London once again. In February 1960, Sylvia published her first volume of poetry called the “Colossus And Other Poems”. Both poets enjoyed continued success, but were even happier when on April 1, 1960, Sylvia gave birth to her first child, a daughter. A second child, a son, was born to the couple January 17, 1962. It was soon after this second birth that the marriage showed signs of great strain. Sylvia eventually found out that Ted was seeing someone else and she divorced Ted and attempted to continue with a...
