The Bell Jar and Other Works by Sylvia Plath: The Colossus, Ariel, Collected Poems and Juvenilia

by Sylvia Plath

Sylvia Plath was one of the most dynamic and admired poets of the twentieth century. By the time she took her life at the age of thirty, Plath already had a following in the literary community. In the ensuing years her work attracted the attention of a multitude of readers, who saw in her singular verse an attempt to catalogue despair, violent emotion, and obsession with death. In the New York Times Book Review, Joyce Carol Oates described Plath as "one of the most celebrated and controversial of postwar poets writing in English." Intensely autobiographical, Plath's poems explore her own mental anguish, her troubled marriage to fellow poet Ted Hughes, her unresolved conflicts with her parents, and her own vision of herself. The Bell Jar & Other Works is a collection of Sylvia Plath’s most celebrated works. It The Bell a semi-autobiographical novel published shortly before her death.* The Colossus & Other Poems, published in 1960.* Ariel, the second book of Sylvia Plath’s poetry* The Collected Poems of Sylvia Plath, for which she won a posthumous Pulitzer Prize.* Juvenilia, a selection of 50 poemsWhile this collection does not contain additional notes or analysis on Plath's poetry, many resources are available online.

Genres: Poetry, Fiction

957 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 2014

About the author

Sylvia Plath was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer, widely regarded as one of the most influential and emotionally powerful authors of the 20th century. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, she demonstrated literary talent from an early age, publishing her first poem at the age of eight. Her early life was shaped by the death of her father, Otto Plath, when she was eight years old, a trauma that would profoundly influence her later work.
Plath attended Smith College, where she excelled academically but also struggled privately with depression. In 1953, she survived a suicide attempt, an experience she later fictionalized in her semi-autobiographical novel The Bell Jar. After recovering, she earned a Fulbright Scholarship to study at Newnham College, Cambridge, in England. While there, she met and married English poet Ted Hughes in 1956. Their relationship was passionate but tumultuous, with tensions exacerbated by personal differences and Hughes's infidelities.
Throughout her life, Plath sought to balance her ambitions as a writer with the demands of marriage and motherhood. She had two children with Hughes, Frieda and Nicholas, and continued to write prolifically. In 1960, her first poetry collection, The Colossus and Other Poems, was published in the United Kingdom. Although it received modest critical attention at the time, it laid the foundation for her distinctive voice—intensely personal, often exploring themes of death, rebirth, and female identity.
Plath's marriage unraveled in 1962, leading to a period of intense emotional turmoil but also extraordinary creative output. Living with her two children in London, she wrote many of the poems that would posthumously form Ariel, the collection that would cement her literary legacy. These works, filled with striking imagery and raw emotional force, displayed her ability to turn personal suffering into powerful art. Poems like "Daddy" and "Lady Lazarus" remain among her most famous, celebrated for their fierce honesty and technical brilliance.
In early 1963, following a deepening depression, Plath died by suicide at the age of 30. Her death shocked the literary world and sparked a lasting fascination with her life and work. The posthumous publication of Ariel in 1965, edited by Hughes, introduced Plath's later poetry to a wide audience and established her as a major figure in modern literature. Her novel The Bell Jar was also published under her own name shortly after her death, having initially appeared under the pseudonym "Victoria Lucas."
Plath’s work is often classified within the genre of confessional poetry, a style that emphasizes personal and psychological experiences. Her fearless exploration of themes like mental illness, female oppression, and death has resonated with generations of readers and scholars. Over time, Plath has become a feminist icon, though her legacy is complex and occasionally controversial, especially in light of debates over Hughes's role in managing her literary estate and personal history.
Today, Sylvia Plath is remembered not only for her tragic personal story but also for her immense contributions to American and English literature. Her work continues to inspire writers, artists, and readers worldwide. Collections such as Ariel, Crossing the Water, and Winter Trees, as well as her journals and letters, offer deep insight into her creative mind. Sylvia Plath’s voice, marked by its intensity and emotional clarity, remains one of the most haunting and enduring in modern literature.

Reviews

[Riya Joseph Kaithavanathara · Rating 4 out of 5]

#356 " I watched my mother grow smaller and smaller until she disappeared into the door of Doctor Gordon's office building . Then I watched her grow larger and larger as she came back to the car .
'Well?' I could tell she had been crying.
My mother didn't look at me. She started the car.
Then she said, as we gluded under the cool, deep-sea share of the elms, 'Doctor Gordon doesn't think you've improved at all. He thinks you should have some shock treatments at his private hospital in Walton.' "

BOOK: The Bell Jar
AUTHOR: #sylviaplath
GENRE: #semiautobiography #contemporaryfiction
RATING:4.8 ⭐

The author Sylvia Plath , famous american poet and author wrote this book in the 1960's , the timeline of the book is that. It is a journey into the fragile psychi of Esther Greenwoods , a girl who aspired to be a poet and then ended up in an asylum. This book shows us the transition and the randomness of the drifting happening in her life . The book is grey shaded with themes of mental issues , insomnia , distortion of reality and suicidal thoughts and hence it's not everyone's cup of tea. But it's very good for understanding a different time period, women's pressure back then and to understand more about a persona psychi- to read, think and analyse the reasons and the way we can make the world better for others, to make us more open and kind to people than being judgemental and keeping them at arms length.

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[Dr. Jon Pirtle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rereading The Bell Jar again this week after so many years I was surprised how well it held up, as a revealing study in how artistic sensitivity to the superficialities of most of life, and deepens the darkness, and lengthens the distances viscerally experienced by the protagonist.

[M Summ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Holy cow. Youth should never read this. Coming of age - worldly coming of age. And then mental illness and treatment in institutions. Suicidal. She is a feminist who struggles with the role of women at her time. Eventually released after electroshock therapy seemed to work.

[Rae Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had heard of Sylvia Plath forever and never read anything by her. The Bell Jar is so rich in description, dark and heart-breaking.

[Sahana Skanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

beautifully melancholic, semi-autobiographical ones agency and confessional writing was purest and relatable.

[y0valda · Rating 5 out of 5]

3rd re read, I never get enough.

[Maggie Spalding · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've never so intimately recognized someone's mind as I do Plath's.

[Serena W. Sorrell · Rating 2 out of 5]

First, this edition was awful. Full of typos and lazy editing. I do not recommend anyone ever pay money for it.

Second, I felt like I very much enjoyed Plath's style and voice, but after reading the whole thing it was as though I had read a lot of pretty phrases describing nothing.

I don't know if this collection is usual of Plath, but if it is she is not for me. I felt bored reading the strings of prettily placed words.