After todays presentation,I am left with a sense of moving on. Hughes had it rough! He was the epicenter of lot of upheaval, and he never sought out the public aspect of fame; instead the public sought him out. He really seemed to be in transition all the time, bouncing from one bad event to the next, and you cant help but feel a type of sympathy for him. Plath had an illness, and it was present before she teamed up with Hughes. I don’t think he really knew to what extent her illness dominated her until it was too late. They were both very much alike, they were extreme people who caused energy, and sometimes there is too much energy and a combustion. That seems to be their story, they were a chemical reaction waiting to happen. Hughes really works through Plath in Birthday Letters, but having worked with her for so long he became affected by her. His own writing changed because of her, this is cemented in Birthday Letters where Hughes finally uses the “I” voice. He seems to take ownership of Plath, and I have to commend him for that because I believe they pushed each other to be better, and Birthday Letters is his acknowledgement that she equally effected him the way he effected her. I liked being able to read a conversation type style from Hughes because it felt like the conversation was meant for Plath, and for someone who never went public for much , this seemed his ultimate screw you to everyone who felt the need to judge not just him but Plath as well.
A Final Thought..
11 Wednesday Dec 2013
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