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Sylvia Plath was an extraordinarily talented writer. She wrote with rare force and wit, hers was a singular voice. She is the author of the classic coming of age novel The Bell Jar, and one of the 20th century’s most important poetry collections, 1965’s Ariel. But her words have been overshadowed by the details of her biography; her marriage to fellow poet Ted Hughes, its dissolution, and her death by suicide in 1963.

In this new three part series, the focus is firmly on Sylvia Plath’s writing as Mariella Frostrup aims to paint a more nuanced picture of Plath as a poet and novelist, cutting through the noise to see her more clearly and putting her life in the context of her work, rather than the other way around.

In this episode we look at how her personal relationships informed her work. We meet Mallory Wober, who had a brief relationship with Plath before she met Ted Hughes. Sylvia Plath’s relationship with Ted Hughes was famously tempestuous, but it was also at heart a literary connection. They spent countless hours writing and reading together and helping to shape each other’s work.

After they were married Plath visited Hughes’ parents at home in the Calder Valley. She wrote several poems inspired by the landscape, including ‘Wuthering Heights’.
Sylvia Plath was part of a deeply sexist literary scene where women poets were not taken seriously. Mariella Frostup meets the poet Ruth Fainlight who was married to Alan Sillitoe and became friends with Sylvia as they tried to balance writing, mothering and their relationships with their more famous husbands.

Contributors include Mallory Wober, Toria Garbutt, Kim Moore, Ruth Fainlight and Heather Clark.
Readings by Lydia Wilson
Presenter Mariella Frostrup
Producer: Jessica Treen