The Sylvia Plath Effect

[angiasaa]

For all my female writer and poet friends:

Some of you have heard of the story of Sylvia Plath, some not.. It's a sad story, even if I may say so.
I was quite surprised though, when I came across something known as The Sylvia Plath Effect. Here's what Wikipedia has to say:

The Sylvia Plath Effect:

The Sylvia Plath effect is a term coined by

Comments

[inspirethoughts]

That is so sad! I meant abt Sylvia Plath, not us female writers or poets.

[angiasaa]

I lost a level of respect for her when I first heard her story. Not because she was suicidal, mind you, but because, once I'd learned the details, I sensed a powerfully abrasive personality in her.

Half the reason for her attempts at suicide appear to stem from an addiction to being near-death and asphyxiation. Add to that, the fact that cooking often tends to induce hallucinations.

Many people sometimes attribute her poetry to these hallucinations and profound near-death experiences. The truth though, we'll probably never know.

:)

[inspirethoughts]

More than barasive personality, I felt that she had a suicidal tendency all along. Her poetry is sometimes depressing too. That was one reason I had not read her poetry much. Again, without knowing about the reality or her personally, I do not want to jump into conclusions or judge her. Just that her poetry I felt depressing and avoided.

[angiasaa]

I agree with you there. Most of her work is pretty depressing. Sometimes makes you wonder if all she saw was that one side of life, and nothing else.

I've found that some of the best stuff I've written is when I've been sad and depressed. It's usually the easiest way to let the emotions flow into text. probably because I have difficulty talking to people about my feelings.. Especially when I'm down and out.

[inspirethoughts]

I've found that some of the best stuff I've written is when I've been sad and depressed.

It is very true. I have experinced that too. Some of my beautiful compositions or fictional stories came out when I have been down and depressed too. I feel that by writing down at that time, you let your emotions and feelings flow from u thru the pen's ink and on to paper, making your heart less weight of the issue and able to bear the pain. :)

[pun_princess]

I totally agree here. Her poetry is too depressing for me to handle, hence never really explored her work despite that evanescence , lacuna coil [female goth] lyrics somehow attract me a lot but then I'd need to listen to something cheerful to get over em.

Gosh! scary to say the least...

cooking often tends to hallucination? I always found cooking to be stress buster for me , hmm...either coz i cook annually or I must be hallucinating then :P

[inspirethoughts]

I agree...if I want to listen, I wud pick a cheery one or at least one with less goth in it. :)

Hmm...Cooking is a real stress-reliever for me...i tend to remove all the stress from my body by cutting vegetables and mxing the curries and rasams. I feel so much relaxed after cooking. Contrary to your thoughts. Sorry to dsiagree.!