I recently finished “The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath.” It was hard to explain my reasoning for the pleasure I got from reading her words. I ended up in the belief that it is due to the stark authenticity of reading her words when you know how her story ends. And she, the narrator, doesn’t know.
Sylvia Plate is a kindred spirit. When I read her words I am in awe of her ability to turn sensory perception into emotional language. Even when she is writing to herself you can feel her interest in life; in humanity. I knew I loved her work, but seeing it all coming together throughout her journals is a sheer inspiration.
The journals that remain are bundled together in this book and the first entry takes place in July 1950. In this entry, as if meeting her for the first time, the reader discovers already that she is uncertain of where life will take her. That she is on a quest for more than mere contentment. Plath talks about the beauty to be found in a hard day’s work and muses about how that sense of fulfillment could allow a person to be peacefully content with life. At the time of this entry she would have been a young adult, exploring her life and which paths to choose along the way.
“I may never be happy, but tonight I am content. Nothing more than an empty house, the warm hazy weariness from a day spent setting strawberry runners in the sun, a glass of cool sweet milk, and a shallow dish of blueberries bathed in cream. Now I know how people can live without books, without college. When one is so tired at the end of a day one must sleep, and at the next dawn there are more strawberry runners to set, and so one goes on living, near the earth. At times like this I’d call myself a fool to ask for more…”–Sylvia Plath
My favorite thing about Plath’s writing is the imagery she creates. The senses of the reader are engaged in the moment she is enveloped in. On the very first page of her journal you can see the strong talent she has. I love that in her own journal she is asking the questions: ‘Who Am I?” and “Why am I?” –as those are the questions many of us are asking ourselves every day.
The reader is also exposed to Plath’s thoughts on how humans put on various roles in life; this is one of my favorite subjects. She puts herself into multiple environments, experiencing life fully.
She relates going to a play and yearning to be the heroine:
“…to be loved by a man who admired me, who understood me as much as I understood myself.”
We see the beginning of how roles would impact her in upcoming years. As would her evolving perception of love.
Read part 2 here!