The Movie "Sylvia"
A few nights ago I watched an astonishing film. I like to think of myself as an intellectual who knows information on famous poets, writers that were a large influence in our world. "Sylvia" astounded me, at first I thought that maybe she was just imagining that her husband was having an affair. The reason for this was because after reading "The Bell Jar" you get the impression that she is unhappy as well as paranoid about how others percieve her. It also bothered me when the characters kept telling her how difficult it must have be to be married to a man like her husband. Looking back upon the film though I believe that the characters were reffering to the fact that was hinted earlier in the film for his liking of many young women over just one. Another may be the fact that her husband himself was a grand poet, while sylvia was still struggling to be heard over that loud voice. I am curious though if he ever thought of what would happen to their marriage if the spotlight was reversed? Was it this fear that lead him away from her into another women's arms, or was it just his hormones?
I found it disappointing and sad that only after her death she is rewarded by being genuine. Sylvia never lies to herself. When I read the excerpt after the film had ended I couldn't believe her husband waited til three weeks before he died to reveal why "Sylvia" had really gone mad. I do think Sylvia really cared for her children, and the movie really depicted her passion for her husband. I can't imagine what she thought when her husband refused to leave the other women because she was pregnant. I though you jerk, you have two little kids that need a daddy too! what about them, and their mother? This film, if it was depicted correctly was very shocking to me. It is something I would like to view again in order to get a better analyzation out of. Have you seen this film Mckinley?
Arcadia
posted by Angela K. Crandall @ 9:23 PM
1 Comments:
I haven't seen the movie, mostly because I have mixed feelings about the idea of making Plath's story into a movie.
I also have a lot of mixed feelings about Ted Hughes. Besides cheating on Plath, he did other things I find upsetting. After she died, he destroyed her final journal--we will never know just what she was thinking in those final months thanks to his action. Perhaps he was trying to protect Plath, but I suspect he was really protecting himself.
I'm also upset by his attempts to capitalize on her death. Before he died, he put out a book of poetry, Birthday Letters, that responded to Plath's last book, Ariel. Maybe Hughes was trying to wrestle with his demons, but it seems like he was trying to divert attention from Plath back to himself.
However, some people think that Plath never would have been a great poet without Hughes' influence. Obviously he caused her a lot of pain, but in their early years he made her focus on her craft in ways that she hadn't before. He challenged her to develop her own voice and the two of them had their own ongoing writer's workshop. Talk about a great chance to develop your skills!
Anyway, Plath's story is heartbreaking to me. I've avoided the movie because it's just too much for me to deal with. Her children were probably the hardest hit out of anyone. Frieda Hughes has published a book of poetry that deals with her mother quite a bit (I had the chance to hear her read from it once).
The funny thing, though, is that once Plath died, Hughes' own poetic talents were always in her shadow. He may have been Britain's poet laureate, but he could never escape from the accusations in or brilliance of Sylvia's late poems.
If you're interested in learning more about Plath, you should read her journals. You need to get the one edited by Karen Kukil--the first version of her journals was heavily edited to present the image of Plath that Hughes wanted the world to see. I've been reading the journals, and they're very interesting, if sometimes a little heavy.
As for the Bell Jar, it's true that the novel is a roman a clef about her experiences as an intern at Mademoiselle and beyond... but like all fiction, it has to be taken with a grain of salt! The character in the Bell Jar isn't exactly Plath herself. Too bad the manuscript of her second novel disappeared. I'd love to read that someday...
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