Sylvia Plath & Ted Hughes - Context

Question 1

Which form of poetry do Plath and Hughes use to reflect their intense psychological experiences?

Accepted Answer

Confessional

Question 2

How did Ted Hughes improve his public image and legacy following Plath’s death?

Accepted Answer

Challenging Plath’s claims by reframing ideas and symbols from her poetry

Question 3

When did Plath's mental state reach its lowest point?

Accepted Answer

After finding Ted’s poems about Assia Wevill

Question 4

To what extent did Plath's poetry resonate with the work of the founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud (1856 - 1939)?

Accepted Answer

It deeply resonated with her and thought it described exactly how she felt.

Question 5

What impact did the publication and alteration of Ariel have on Plath’s legacy?

Accepted Answer

It spurred a movement to restore Plath’s original vision in a 2004 edition.

Question 6

When were Plath & Hughes interviewed for a radio broadcast entitled ‘Two of a Kind: Poets in Partnership'?

Accepted Answer

1961

Question 7

How did Plath describe Hughes as a newly wed in the letters to friend and former psychiatrist Ruth Beuscher?

Accepted Answer

Deeply supportive and loving.

Question 8

In what scientific area was Plath interested?

Accepted Answer

Psychology

Question 9

Who was Plath’s first letter given to?

Accepted Answer

Father, Dr Otto Plath.

Question 10

What major life event of Plath’s do the Beuscher letters detail?

Accepted Answer

Her estrangement from Ted Hughes.

Question 11

What significant action did Ted Hughes take regarding Plath’s book of poems Ariel after her death?

Accepted Answer

He altered the contents before publication.

Question 12

How many times did Plath attempt suicide?

Accepted Answer

Three

Question 13

In what way could the poems Plath & Hughes wrote to each other before they were married be inferior to what came later?

Accepted Answer

Their marriage provided a freedom to delve into psychological issues., They began to mirror each other’s work.

Question 14

What served as the pivotal source for Sylvia Plath’s work exploring notions of suffering and psychological turmoil?

Accepted Answer

All of the above

Question 15

Which of Plath’s poems explores the impact of loneliness on the human psyche?

Accepted Answer

‘Sheep in Fog’

Question 16

In Plath’s poem "Aerialist", an extended metaphor of walking a tightrope is used to convey the feminist struggle with?

Accepted Answer

Artistry.

Question 17

Plath’s confession ‘‘I want the world’s praise, money & love, and am furious with anyone...getting ahead of me" reveals?

Accepted Answer

She was extremely competitive.

Question 18

What caused Plath's deep attachment to her father, Dr Otto Plath?

Accepted Answer

She was only able to write one letter to him before he died., She felt deceived by God, who let her father die when she was so young.

Question 19

Why were the Beuscher letters not published until they were put up for sale in 2017?

Accepted Answer

Plath's estate prevented their publication.

Question 20

Which feminist poet famously accused Hughes of “murdering” Plath in her poem "The Arraignment"?

Accepted Answer

Robin Morgan

Question 21

To what did the poetic rivalry between Plath and Hughes lead?

Accepted Answer

Grief and mourning, but also the success of both poets.

Question 22

Why was Plath’s poem "Daddy" considered controversial?

Accepted Answer

She was accused of selfishly appropriating the death of Holocaust victims.

Question 23

Why was Plath influenced by R. D. Laing’s The Divided Self, an existential analysis of personal alienation?

Accepted Answer

She identified with his depiction of schizophrenia & depression.

Question 24

How did Frieda Hughes defend her father regarding allegations made by Plath?

Accepted Answer

By stating he was not the wife-beater some imagine.

Question 25

What were Plath’s feelings on her English subject grades at school?

Accepted Answer

All of the above

Sylvia Plath & Ted Hughes - Context

Questions 25

Sylvia Plath & Ted Hughes - Context

Questions 25