Depressed Female Poets: The Sylvia Plath Effect
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Sylvia Plath was a prolific writer and poet whose work still remains prevalent and inspirational in modern-day American literature. Infamous in every sense of the word, her readers have attributed her fruitful writing career to her tragic death, latching onto the tragedy as a form of entertainment. Plath was a real woman who faced real hardships, particularly with her mental health. Unfortunately, during the ‘50s and ‘60s, Plath did not have access to what might have helped her if she had been alive today. Instead, she was subject to numerous electric shock treatments. Regardless of what went on in her personal life, her writing is arguably some of the finest work from that time period. We can see how prolific she was through the sheer amount of people still obsessed with her work. The Bell Jar came out 61 years ago, yet it is still propped up on bookshelves and posted all over social media. Girls and women have seem to have taken a special interest in Plath, as her unflinching and honest portrayals of raw emotional pressures placed on women deeply resonate.
There is a term, the “Sylvia Plath Effect”, which is a psychological phenomenon that says poets, particularly female poets, are more likely to experience mental illness than others. The idea that poets are depressed is a stereotype that actually goes back very far into history: “the idea of a link between creativity and mental illness goes back to the time of Aristotle, when he wrote that eminent philosophers, politicians, poets and artists all have tendencies toward melancholia." Though this notion does have a basis in reality, and many people may actually agree or even relate, coining the term after Plath’s name feels a little strange to me.
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Sylvia Plath is often remembered for her suicide attempts, her husbands infidelity,, or any of the numerous tradgies that seem to have found her throughout her life. However, she was an artist. A brilliant one, at that. She did suffer greatly from mental illness, yet she was extremely witty and intelligent. By reducing Sylvia Plath to her mental illness, we run the risk of forgetting her literary genius. Her poetry book, Ariel, is genuinely one of the best works of poetry to ever have existed. I will admit my biases, as I am a young female writer who also has felt the effects of people belittling my work due to my circumstances or behaviors. If the Sylvia Plath effect is true, and it might be, it’s not necessarily a bad thing. I think as artists, we are more prone to feeling deeply, and feeling deeply can open us up to an array of negative feelings. However, I don’t think the Sylvia Plath Effect takes into account the healing nature of writing poetry. Her writing poetry may have very well kept her alive much longer than she would have been without it.
When we remember Plath, I truly hope we remember her artistry over her personal struggles. I encourage you to pick up Ariel or The Bell Jar and consider how amazing it is that a woman of her time period was able to produce such mastery of language. Her innate ability to feel things so deeply was not an illness. No, she was not treated correctly, by doctors or her husband. No, she was not an innocent woman. She engaged in affairs and scandalous behaviors. But, despite this, and though she was in mental torment for much of her life, she still deserved to experience full love and joy.
Strike Out,
Indigo Carter
Editors: Kaya O’Rourke and Maya Kayyal
Saint Augustine
Indigo Carter is the creative writing copy editor for Strike Magazine. She loves Hello Kitty and reading books about fairies. You can find her at indigocarterr@gmail.com or on Instagram @prettypretty.princesss
