The_Bell_Jar

Herman Grewal May 18th, 2011 The Bell Jar Research Paper Mr. Kindle 10:00 class The Bell Jar Research Paper Edward James Hughes, more famously known as Ted Hughes, was married to Sylvia Plath prior to her suicide and has been thought to be the reason for her suicide. Hughes was an English poet and children’s writer. He is considered to be one of the best poets of his time and was given the title of British Poet Laureate, which is rewarded only to best of writers. In 2008, The Times ranked Hughes fourth on their list of “The 50 Greatest British writers since 1945”. Hughes was born on August 17th, 1930, in Mytholmroyd, West Yorkshire. He was raised on a farm and this greatly built his imagination. He is noted for saying that, “my first six years shaped everything”. At the age of seven his family moved to Mexborough, South Yorkshire. There he attended Mexborough Grammar School, which was where he was encouraged to write, and his interest in poetry grew. In 1946, one of his early poems, “Wild West”, was published in the school magazine, The Don and Dearn. Then, in 1948, Hughes won an open exhibition in English at Pembroke College, Cambridge. The following year, he did two years of National Service, where he was stationed as a ground wireless mechanic. There he spent most of his time reading and rereading all of Shakespeare. After the National Service, Hughes went to study English at Pembroke College. In his third year, he transferred to anthropology and archaeology, but he didn’t excel as a scholar. After college, Hughes held many different jobs including: rose gardener, night watchman, even worked at a zoo, and was a reader for the British film company, J. Arthur Rank. In 1956, Hughes and his friends held a launch party for the St. Botolph’s Review. There, Hughes met the American Poet, Sylvia Plath. They soon began dating and were married at St. George the Martyr Holborn, on June 16th, 1956, just four months after they met. Hughes commented that he could see differences between himself and Plath, but said that they were very happy as they both went on to pursue their writing careers. Later, they moved to America to teach at the University of Massachusetts. Then, they returned to England, finding a small flat in Primrose Hill, London. Then in 1961, they bought the house, Court Green, in North Tawton, Devon. They lived there with their children Frieda and Nicholas. In the summer of 1962, Hughes began having an affair with Assia Wevill, who had been living in the Primrose Hill flat with her husband. In the autumn of the same year, Hughes, and Plath separated, and Plath began living in a new flat with the children. Spring of 1963, Plath took her own life. Hughes was greatly overwhelmed by this. Some argued that Hughes was an abusive husband, which drove Plath to suicide. Feminists threatened to kill Hughes in Plath’s name. In 1970, a feminist poet, Robin Morgan, published a poem openly accusing Hughes of murdering Plath. In 1969, when Wevill ended up committing suicide, and also taking the life of their child, in the same fashion as Plath, Hughes was again criticized as being abusive to both Plath and Wevill. In 1970, Hughes married Carol Orchard, a nurse, and they remained together until his death. Before he died, he was appointed a member of the Order of Merit by Queen Elizabeth II. On October 28th, 1998, Hughes suffered a fatal heart attack, while already in a hospital being treated for colon cancer. His funeral was held on November 3rd of the same year. Hughes’s son, Nicholas, would later go on to commit suicide in 2009, after a history of depression. Ted Hughes has been a given a bad rep due to Plath’s suicide. But, one cannot solely conclude that he is to blame. Prior to meeting Hughes, Plath had many failed suicide attempts that may have been done as a means of gaining attention. And, many argue that her last suicide attempt, which was successful, may have also meant to be unsuccessful. She was prescribed antidepressants by Dr. Horder a few days before her death. According to her American doctor, she was told to stay away from antidepressants, as they would only worsen her depression. She also did it at a time when there would be people coming to visit her and could potentially save her. So, from this, one is left with the thought that maybe her death was an accident and she only did it to get attention, just as she had with the previous attempts. But, after Wevill killed herself six years later, claims that Hughes was an abusive husband again became more and more common. Work Cited Liukkonen, Petri. "Ted Hughes." Www.kirjasto.sci.fi. 2008. Web. 17 May 2011. . Skea, Ann. "Earth | Moon - Who Was Ted Hughes ' Biographical Sketch." Earth-Moon - A Ted Hughes Website. Web. 17 May 2011. . "Ted Hughes Biography." Famous Poets and Poems - Read and Enjoy Poetry. Web. 17 May 2011. .