Sylvia Plath - The Early Years - Biographical Documentary

Sylvia Plath is one of the most important voices in American literature, her poetry, short stories and novel exploring her intense personal experiences through her raw, confessional style.

Her work is known for its vivid and sometimes shocking imagery, and it has a powerful emotional authenticity, made all the more so, by the tragic circumstances of her death at just thirty years of age.

But the tragedy of her departure from the world can sometimes overshadow her life, as if everything she ever did, said or wrote led to this moment. As if her fate was inevitable, inescapable, unavoidable.

But was it? Did she have a lifelong fascination with death as many people believe or was her final act just the catastrophic consequence of a depressive illness that could have been treated to allow her to continue writing and being a mother to her children.

In this biographical documentary, Prof Graeme Yorston explores the life and tragic death of Sylvia Plath from his perspective as a psychiatrist.

Finding Out More:
There are many excellent biographies, but I’d particularly recommend Heather Clark’s Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath as this includes a discussion of her recently available letters to her psychiatrist Dr Beuscher and I’ll add this to my Amazon Store Page. https://www.amazon.com/shop/professor...

Academic References:
Cooper, B. (2003). Sylvia Plath and the depression continuum. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 96(6), 296-301.
Foster, A. V. M., & Edmonds, M. E. (1995). The roots of ariel: Sylvia Plath and her father's foot. Diabetic medicine, 12(7), 580-584.
Claridge, G., Pryor, R., & Watkins, G. (1990). Sounds from the bell jar: Ten psychotic authors. St Martin's Press.

Copyright Disclaimer:
The primary purpose of this video is educational. I have tried to use material in the public domain or with Creative Commons Non-attribution licences wherever possible. Where attribution is required, I have listed this below. I believe that any copyright material used falls under the remit of Fair Use, but if any content owners would like to dispute this, I will not hesitate to immediately remove that content. It is not my intention to infringe on content ownership in any way. If you happen to find your art or images in the video, please let me know and I will be glad to credit you.

Images:
Wikimedia Commons
Wellcome Collection
Internet Archive

Music:
Jazz Trombone – Serolillo – CC2.5
Faure Flute Fantasie. Alex Murray (flute) and Martha Goldstein (piano) CC3.0
Beethoven Cello Sonatas Opus 5 in G - John Michel, cello. CC3.0
John Pattucci City Walk; Gridlock CC0
Mozart String Quartet No. 15 In C Major "Les Dissonances" K465. Quatuor Mosaïques CC0
Gershwin: Summertime Russian String Orchestra conducted by Misha Rachlevsky;
Gershwin: 3 Preludes for Clarinet and Piano II. Clarinet: Byeon Gyu-ri, Piano: Kim Hwa-jeong CCAttribution
Albeniz - Tango Op.165 Nº2 - David Hernando Vitores - Kayoko Morimoto (Wasei Duo) CC4.0
Beethoven - Octet The Soni Ventorum Wind Quintet CC2.0
Kirill Fandeev - Sonata for cello CC4
Beethoven: Sonata No. 14 in C Sharp Minor "Moonlight", Op. 27 No. 2, Paul Pitman for Musopen PD
Rimsky-Korsakov Tale of Tsar Saltan, Op. 57: "Flight of the Bumblebee" performed by the Concert Band of the United States Air Force Band of the Rockies. PD
Handel; Zadok the Priest St Matthew's Concert Choir; Damien Giromella, director CC3.0
Vladan L. Kuzmanović: Technical Etude no. 1 for Piano in C Major, called Walter Etude, CC4.0

Research and Script by Graeme Yorston
Voice of Sylvia Plath: Maryann Isles
Video editing by Manavi Sakunika Video
Produced by Tom Yorston
Script Copyright 2025