My copy of The Bell Jar and Freeman’s column
I recently discovered Hadley Freeman, Guardian columnist and features writer. I actually discovered her by chance when I grabbed the Guardian on my way up to Manchester for work at the end of January. As superficial as it sounds, I was flicking through the Guardian magazine when her name, in bright pink, popped out at me, closely followed by Sylvia Plath’s name. I was instantly captured.
Always a literary fan and having studied Plath at Uni, I was intrigued by Hadley’s take on the controversial subject of Plath’s suicide. This is a topical subject at the moment, with many writers and journalists reflecting on what Plath’s work means to them, in the light of her 50th anniversary of death tomorrow (11 February 2013).
The thing that drew me to Hadley’s writing is that it offered a blunt but refreshing perspective on the issues surrounding Plath’s death and wasn’t ‘the same bitter arguments being trotted out’. Her writing is like poetry within itself when she uses phrases such as ‘Plath’s fame bloomed under the cloud of her death, ‘flattened into a prototype’, ‘suicide attracts speculation like flies to rotting food’ and ‘skin-pricklingly beautiful’.
Unusually, Hadley seems to be one of the few not to demonise Ted Hughes and argues that he was not the cause of Plath’s death but that Plath was killed by what she described as ‘the owl’s talons clenching and constricting my heart’.
- Hadley satirises a journalist on Twitter for insinuating that Hughes drove all of his wives to suicide and that ‘thisbothersme#’ – Hadley reflects how Hughes must have been a lot more ‘bothered’ by his wives’ deaths than a stranger.
- Hadley also believes that Hughes did not publish all of Plath’s poetry because he was ‘genuinely looking out’ for Plath.
- Finally, Hadley ‘marvels’ at the egotistic suspicion that Hughes destroyed Plath’s last journal to ‘preserve his reputation’ – she thinks it was simply to ‘protect his children’.
No one can ever be sure of the truth behind this and I’m not sure I completely agree with Hadley, but I do agree that ‘a sensationalised story about a marriage is easier to read than poetry’ and that ‘no one can know what really goes on in a marriage other than those involved’.
The Bell Jar, published less than a month before Plath killed herself, is Plath’s only novel and has recently caused an outcry with Faber’s new anniversary edition. What do you think of this new cover? Does it devalue the novel or attract potential new audiences? Your thoughts are welcome.
Nevertheless, as Hadley says, ‘mark the anniversary of Plath’s death by reading her work’. This has inspired me to rescue my copy of The Bell Jar from under a dusty pile of books (pictured above) and push it to the top of my ‘to read’ list. I know which cover I prefer.
You can also read Hadley Freeman’s column online and follow her on Twitter. I’d highly recommend it.
Dominika Eureka 