Sylvia Plath
"Sylvia Plath --- probably manic-depressive, certainly hospitalized and treated for severe depression --- described her experience in "The Bell Jar" (1971):
'I hadn't washed my hair for three weeks. . . .
I hadn't slept for seven nights.
My mother told me I must have slept, it was impossible not to sleep in all that time, . . . . ' (pp. 72--73)"
(Goodwin, Frederick K., M.D. and Jamison, Kay Redfield, Ph.D., "Manic-Depressive Illness" (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990), page 42.
figgy_pudding has raised a question of how societal norms for women in the United States of America during the nineteen fifties and sixties might have exacerbated Plath's depression. I would be interested in hearing comments regarding this question.
'I hadn't washed my hair for three weeks. . . .
I hadn't slept for seven nights.
My mother told me I must have slept, it was impossible not to sleep in all that time, . . . . ' (pp. 72--73)"
(Goodwin, Frederick K., M.D. and Jamison, Kay Redfield, Ph.D., "Manic-Depressive Illness" (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990), page 42.
figgy_pudding has raised a question of how societal norms for women in the United States of America during the nineteen fifties and sixties might have exacerbated Plath's depression. I would be interested in hearing comments regarding this question.
2 Comments:
I need to let you read my writing sample which argues that it was easier to be a Puritan woman than a woman in the 50s and 60s.
I changed my blog name-
sarah
and i updated it!
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