This interview was conducted by Peter Orr October 30 1962. Sylvia passed 3 months later February 11 1963. Shocking to hear the eloquence & life force in her voice knowing it would be silenced so soon after. Peace To All!
I grew up in Wellesley, and when I was at Wellesley High, I worked at the local market. Mrs. Plath often had her groceries delivered to her house. I was often the one who delivered food to her. Sylvia sounds very, very much like her mother. Mrs. Plath was very gracious and had a good sense of humor.
Shaun Kelly Hi again, Shaun, would you mind sharing a time frame for this? It is just so amazing to me! Were you aware of Sylvia's work at the time? Ever been approached for interviews or info? Maybe write your story! I would buy it. All things Plathian, Always
It's shocking to know that she took her own life a few months after this interview. Her voice sounds so vibrant and confident. Depression is insidious.
Sylvia Plath is a creative idol of mine - her depth of emotion, insight, but also humor (the first half of The Bell Jar is hilarious!) are mindboggling.
+Ellie Newman I found a connection with her work instantly which remains the strongest of any strangers work. I found the more i delved into her life and her relationship with Ted Hughes, the more I felt a deep almost kinship with her. I too have had suicide in my life and depression and anger and love. All things that I think are released through her. As she became more personal, it became more personal. I too think there was lashings of humour in her work. She is a creative idol of mine also, sometimes an overbearing one but never unwelcome.
Is it weird that I love her? Like seriously love her. Her intelligence, the way her mind worked, and of course her beauty. Those intense eyes and that powerful voice of hers. I wish I had the chance to talk with her, I think I could go hours upon hours talking, no, just listening to her. What a remarkable woman.
No, or at least it doesn't seem weird to me, because I feel the same way. Within the first 5 minutes of reading her quotes I was smitten and blown over. Now I am reading The Bell Jar and it's like having the first *real* conversation I have ever had in my life. I've spent my days desperately trying to get to this kind of honesty with people and, while I have gotten closer with some than with others, nothing compares to her work. This is what I always imagined love was like, and gave up on until now. I have to learn to do what she did, in order to show the right people they can do the same with me. When I die I hope she is the first person I meet so I can thank her and cry and tell her how wonderful we all see she really is. And all of these words just don't even begin to get it across, do they?
I also love her, I`m sure the people she got to know better often had that experience. I never will understand how come any man could leave her, specially with two little children. I wish she had married a more "normal" and decent man, I mean not such a brilliant and selfish poet like Ted Hughes. I`m sure she deserved better than him.
No. As a straight female I love her. To me I just want to go back in time and help her. Help her with the children and to run off all the home wreckers while she finds herself.
I agree, that isn't weird. I have felt that way about people too. I also think it's rather sweet for you to admit it and say such nice things about her so candidly. That's refreshing to me.
She was talking about preference. As in she was 50 years behind in common the American disposition not 50 years behind in any means of for sight or literary capabilities. So basically I'm informing you that she didn't mean 50 years behind In a negative but rather a positive way.
+noBRILOpadheads nobrilopadheads That may be too harsh. There are millions who feel far too little. Modern society tends to be a wee bit on the heartless side!
WE poets see the world for what it is. severe isolation reveals high art act of the pen is out of remembrance, either unrequited things or the dead from our childhood. we drive the places of murder
Wow, given her tragic story I had no idea she would sound like this. I was expecting some really fragmented voice struggling to string sentences together and much more monotoned in a lack of energy kind of way. She sounds so bright, cheery, intelligent, charismatic, colorful and melodic. Such a shame she went early. But then again so many great artists do. Who know what she’d have achieved had she stuck around. But glad to have these recordings. Something keeps drawing me back to her. She had something divine about her.
Her story is so tragic, she lived such a difficult short life, yet her poetry was truly inspirational. She influenced female poets in particular for in her time, woman were so stuck in a patriarchal society. Amazing. Her daughter, Frieda still gives talks discussing her mothers work today. SO GOOD.
She actually has the voice of a very educated Bostonian and she was a graduate of Smith. She also went to Cambridge. She was a very educated young lady and she learned to speak well because of it.
Very well-said and summed-up. I live in a university town (Bloomington, Indiana) and there is a wide spectrum of education, wealth, and speaking styles and often all in one place. In a "Fresh Air radio" interview I heard British actor Michael Caine say that America has a class system that isn't based on money "...but on how you talk" and I have found that to be true. Well-educated people do speak differently from those who are not well-educated. Maybe it's a mix of talking like the people around oneself and of learning to love and respect language and communication and of acquiring mastery of the language.
Andrew Brendan wow now that I think about it I suppose.....maybe we have a few different class systems going. but it's true no matter where you are here the less of an (regional) accent you have generally the more educated.....
True. There was a conjecture on another thread where someone said they believed the accent was an invention of Hollywood, and overblown, bad acting. I was happy to be able to link this to that thread, with an actual example of the accent from that period, and regional prime of culture. It's interesting that, now we have the commonality of bland, Californian accent, pervasive even here in Florida, where the Southern dialects are only discernible to Northerners, and not that we simply cannot hear the Southern accents because we are predominately Southern, but that among us, even the differences in Southern accents (Charlestonian as to Georgian, for instance having different vowel drawls), are becoming flattened, and more similar. You only really have true accents in deep places such as LA, (Louisiana, not California) and Tennessee, in the mountains, places further removed, and it's going to become moreso as the reach of technology and, therefore media is pervasive in that way. It seems a cherished thing to hear the regional dialects and those that carry connotation of culture.
Captain Sunday Although, Andrew Brendan, she sounds to me rather shrill, strident,and unfortunately haughty. I do not find that to be typical of the well educated. Her voice is unique.
As both a poet and Scorpio myself, Sylvia is a huge inspiration for me. She is intensely herself and her voice is unmistakable. I hope she rests well now
Such an intelligent and well educated lady! Had a very eloquent speaking voice and beautiful woman. Never would’ve thought her life would end so tragically. RIP, Sylvia Plath.
It's called "Boston Brahman." Very similar to Katherine Hepburn from the same area, or Thurston Howell III on Gilligan's Island. She has some British inflection which is common to people who have lived there a while.
I beg to differ. It is just as natural an accent as any other. One might as well say that all accents are affected! It is perfectly natural for local variations to occur. Plath's accent has its origins in Lancashire, UK, which is where a lot of early Boston area settlers came from. There are similar isolated pockets of Mid-Atlantic speech scattered throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Appalachians.
Morgaine Bergman I didn't say "affected," I said INFLECTED. She has a British inflection from having lived there, coupled with her Boston Brahman, which is her base accent. If you're not familiar with the term, that's not my mistake. Her accent is decidedly not Mid-Atlantic. robertspage.com/dialects.html If you refer to the map, everything in purple is Mid-Atlantic. Her accent is called Boston Brahman, as I stated earlier.
KARI166: Actually, the Mid-Atlantic accent does occur naturally. It's called that because it's based on some coastal areas in VA and NC where the accent originates. Hollywood just standardized it.
"Mid-Atlantic Accent" doesn't refer to the geography of the United States - it's a popular term suggesting "half-way across the ocean" between Britain and America, and is used to describe the British-inflected American speech and American-flattened British speech that occurs when people from one place spend a lot of time in the other. Sylvia Plath's speech in this clip is definitely not simply Boston Brahmin - she has taken on a great deal of British intonation.
Yes, very passionate! Sometimes it sounds like she gets so excited that she has run out of air, like an excitable child! Very contagious to me. Can you imagine having her as a Professor/Lecturer? I'm not sure what her proper title was.
I just can't believe I listened to her voice ! This is like a dream come true. To hear one of my most favourite poets is a life time experience. By her voice you can delve deep into her mind and heart how she thought and viewed this world. Just Amazing.
Nancy - I was born in January, 1955 and graduated from Wellesley High School in 1973. I was extraordinarily lucky to have Mr. Crockett, who was Sylvia's beloved English teacher as well, as a high school junior. From January to May, 1955, Sylvia and I were literally neighbors - we lived across Weston Road (Elmwood, where she lived) on Mayo Road - a five minute's walk from her Wellesley residence. When then moved to Radcliffe Road across town, but interestingly, our house was right behind Woodlawn Cemetary, where her grandparents, and later on, Mrs. Plath, was buried. Wellesley was much changed in the 1960's; the local Howard Johnson's Restuarant where Sylvia used to hold forth was still there as well as Bailey's Ice Cream across the street where Wellesleyites relished their indescribable frappes (my mother used to have a frappe with a Harvard freshman who was dating her first cousin there back in 1938, a certain young man she always called Jack - John F. Kennedy). Next to Bailey's was the Hathaway Bookstore, Sylvia's favorite hangout (and mine as well) when we were growing up, which, for fifty years, served as the official bookstore for Wellesley College and the unofficial favorite bookshop for the town's residents. Sylvia and I both loved such places as the Wellesley Comunity Playhouse, a great old movie theatre a mile down from Wellesley High, which opened in the late 1920's and closed in 1987 (yes, I went to the last picture show there!). Sylvia and I both at a local diner called Sunshine Dairy. Finally, we even went to the same pharmacy, Fells! While we were 22 year+ apart, the town was still very much as it had been - and so was Wellesley High. Like Sylvia, I published stories in The Phillipian and The Bradford, wrote featured pieces for The Wellesley Townsman, and even had our lockers along the same row outside Mr. Crockett's Room 206 (according to him). In the small world department, we also summered in the same community on Cape Cod, Eastham. We loved the same beach, Nauset, and every time I go there these days I always think of her there. Our house is situated on a road that Sylvia and Ted sed to bike on there to Rock Harbor in nearby Orleans. Warren Plath lives right down the road from us in Eastham these days. While I still teach outside of NYC, I spend three months of the year on the Cape and will permanently retire there in a few years.
Shaun Kelly Shaun, All I can say is WOW, WOW, WOW!!!! What an amazing post. As I said before, I could talk to you all day! You are so interesting. Thank you for the personal info. I did not mean to pry. I'm just a very curious person by nature. As for myself, I was born July 1951! So, we are close in age. Thank you for the tid bit on Warren. I often wonder about him. I have tried to research him, but haven't been able to find very much. Again, I am so very grateful to you for sharing your information and your life! I don't have anyone to share my love of Sivvy with, so you are a blessing! Happy reading, listening and sharing.
Nancy - will be returning home to Wellesley next weekend for a 60th birthday bash for my Wellesley High classmates. Will take a walk on Elmwood Road while I am there and visit Sivvie's house. slkelly@gcds.net
Shaun, When you say "visit" Sivvie's house, what do you mean? To just walk past it, or can a person actually go inside the house? Is it occupied? What do you mean about the birthday bash? Isn't your b.d. in January? Please don't think I'm daft with all the questions! Thanks for writing back.
This is the first time Ive heard her speak and I was like WOW... I DID NOT expect her to talk so posh. I mean I knew she was highly intelligent and went to universities and everything but I imagined her to have a regular, maybe even sarcastic voice. Come to think of it... her poshness probably explains why Esther Greenwood in The Bekl Jar is a bit snobby sometimes and looks down on certain people, like Buddy Wilard.
With all due respect, I think you've entirely misunderstood Sylviia's manner of speaking. I wouldn't, for example, call a British accent "posh", because it's an accent. That's what it is. Such is the case with Sylvia...she had a typical New England accent, just a rather pronounced one. She used irony, but certainly not sarcasm.
@Jake Matthews Thanks Jake I'll check that out. She is so fascinating. She had such great expectations but then decided it wasn't worth it. An individual choice surely.
Long before I discovered Plath I had been drawn to a complicated woman; both loving and selfless with a wicked wit and a struggle somedays to exist in this world. That woman I am lucky to still be with many years later and as I write this. The Bell Jar provided an instant familiarity in Esther: I felt like I was reading upon the diary of a friend I didn't know. It made the ending painfully raw - not the ending on the paper but the true end not long after publishing. RIP Sylvia, I wish this life had been easier for you.
Plath’s voice has an authority and command of speech that partly derives from her skill with the sound of language as a poet...but also appears to signify strength of purpose and deep belief in what she is doing. This is not the voice of a woman walking a tightrope, but of one centred with the full assurance of self-belief, or at the very least, strong ambition. I can only imagine her mind - highly intelligent and imposingly powerful - eventually turned against her and she could not fight its dominion.
Her voice is so opposed to her inner turmoil. You would expect, well I certainly did (having had a very similar life to her in terms of suicide attempts and hospitalisation for deep depression) a lilting, quiet voice but she has a very low, forthright voice, very commanding and strong.
Despite the time in which this interview took place, 1962, her words and intellectual persona resonates even today. As a student, I aspire to reach her level of grace and poise when speaking. Gone too soon.
Goddess of poetry psssed away so painfully ever known in the history of literature.Sylvia is stranger than fiction.Will continue to miss her words and existence!
She is one of the greatest poets and short story and book writers in the 20th Century. She was already gaining a strong reputation by the academics. She is considered the greatest poet of the mid 20th Century. She was a genius. She had no idea of her success "The Bell Jar" was turned down during her lifetime. She never knew she would win a Pulitzer.
I completely agree. I enjoy reading literature and poetry and I enjoy thought provoking conversations but nowadays people perceive that as arrogance. It's disappointing that our generation isn't intrigued by knowledge
JULIAslt Yes, because "our generation" haven't built particle accelerators, they haven't built interstellar probes. They definitely haven't solved mathematical problems such as the poincaré conjunction.
Now youre seen as pretensious or being affected, which, yes is definitley a thing, but in most cases its idiotic to condemn someone for being intelligent
As someone who suffers from Depression (it is genetic) I can say that she could have been putting on a more enthusiastic tone when speaking. That does not mean she feels happy or is mentally ''okay.'' It could be a mask for the public to see, not necessarily something that is real. You smile, you laugh and come off as perfectly fine. I do that when dealing with people and society. In reality, I'm miserable.
snowcherryleopard That's the cruelty of depression; you drag yourself up from the pit by tooth and nail, feeling renewed, hopeful and enthusiastic about life and the world, only to fall that much harder when it inevitably comes crashing down again.
On the contrary, I think if you listen carefully you can tell how exhausted her voice sounds : especially the part where she talks about manipulating terrific experiences (which obviously should've remind some of them). By the time this interview was made, she already broke up with Hughes and was certainly into that highly creative yet exhausting and self-destructive period of her last months. She obviously wore herself out writing her best works, and you can tell by reading her Journals how intransigent she was.
Sylvia Plath found her voice unlike no other. Completely unique , and was a trailblazer as well as being firmly rooted in the evolution of what we have come to call 'poetry' in the Western tradition. as Shakespeare asked, 'who is Sylvia?', ....
She is such an expressive speaker. Really impressionable and you can feel the echoes of the 20th century as speaks and the intensity of her speech is so breathy and absolutely feminine.
I wonder what she would be writing today. Artists have to open their minds to produce their work and it leaves them vulnerable to the pain the world offers. It’s amazing how those that have talent that cannot be taught often die too early creating a mystique that remains in place for a great length of time. Listening to her it’s very believable that she could become detached and intolerant of life’s realities. She must have felt there was nowhere to go that would heal and sustain her. She does a very fulfilling interview. I wonder how she felt an hour later.
This is sensational - and so strangely soothing and familiar to hear her voice for the first time with this here interview, which I am listening to on Halloween morning. Rereading "The Bell Jar" this year moved me profoundly as an adult revisiting the work I first started to read as a teen in high school. Thank you again! Cheers, Britt
I was the same way, Susan! I had read her journals, letters, poetry, bios, etc. Then, I ordered her Spoken Word cd. I couldn't listen to it for months, but when I did, WOW! Many emotions! I cried because I love her and miss her. Kinda weird, huh?
She has such a lovely laugh! Shame the interviewer doesn't seem to reciprocate too often, except at 02:09. Thanks for uploading, this was a great interview!
She doesn’t sound like a tortured soul but we all know differently. She is in the gut of the poet & she’s nothing like the polite sounding lady we’re listening to and I mean that as the highest praise.
As a postscript, the "televization" of American English has been so pronounced in the past fifty years that regional accents are dying out. We all sound the same these days. Frankly, my mother, who lived her entire life in Massachusetts, and who was twelve years older than Sylvia, spoke exactly like her - all the way to the phrasing and clipped pronunciations. I had a handful of conversations with Mrs. Aurelia Plath growing up in Wellesley - she spoke the same way. Notice that the Kennedy children and grandchildren don't speak with a regional accent, unlike, say, Jack Kennedy (an old friend of my parents - they knew him from 1935 on).
Shaun Kelly Wow, Shaun! Sounds like you've had a very interesting childhood and life. Must say I'm quite envious, having grown up myself in the mountains of East Tennessee with no phone or inside bath!! I've always loved New England and dreamed of visiting there. Thank you for the posts. Very interesting. Keep writing.
Thank you, Nancy. Very lucky to have grown up and been educated in New England. Except for three years in which I taught and lived in London, I have spent my entire life here. By the way, you live in a beautiful part of the country.....
Shaun Kelly Thank you, Shaun, for all your knowledge, information, and kindness. I actually had to leave my beautiful mountains at age 15 due to family problems. I now live in California! I have been very fortunate to experience both east coast and west coast cultures and styles of education. I could discuss this with you for hours, Shaun, but then, it's not about me, but our beloved Sivvy....I do adore her! Until we speak.
This is back when interviews were about finding depth and perspective and trying to understand the person. Nowadays, interviews are purely about who is dating who and if they cheated and what makeup they recommend (only when sponsored)
This woman sparked my interest so much. She’s just so intelligent and the was she thinks is so interesting I just wish I could meet her. Have a conversion with her
Thank you for uploading the interview. I share some emotions, recollections, visions, ways of life and the talking style of Sylvia. Yes, I must agree... I have learnt a lesson from Her. Great visionary, poignant, insightful, metarhorical poetry of grief, sadness, love and death... all rolled into one- unexplained life...by Sylvia inspired me to write my own verses. I translated some of Her monumental poems into Polish, well at least I tried... There are just a handful of poets so much truthful, intelligent, well-educated and brilliant like Sylvia; Shakespeare, Yeats. Elliot, Dickinson including...
Yes, that is Sylvia. As someone who is from Wellesley, she sounds very much like most of the English teachers I had growing up there. Yes, she is an intellectual, but her hard A's (very Winthrop, where she came from originally come through). I also knew Mrs. Plath, her mother - Sylvia sounds very much like Aurelia Plath.
Thank you for the explanation of her accent. I thought her accent was because of her time spent in England but it struck me as unlikely she would pick up an English accent so quickly since she wasn't there terribly long.
Her voice is harsh does not match up to her beautiful verses.She must have been difficult to live with especially when her mental health issues began to surface.
Never thought I'd hear my thoughts out loud by such a being who shared the same lens on such things. I love u Sylvia. RIP. I shall celebrate our birthdays wonderfully.
Nancy, we are celebrating our "big birthday" collectively - the vast majority of us will hit 60 this year (yes, I turned 60 in January). When I am there, I will walk down Sylvia's street - it is easily accessible; Elmwood Road is only three miles from my own street. I can't wait to visit my hometown once again!
Shaun Kelly Shaun, I have been so excited for your visit home and, of course, your birthday bash! I'm sure it was great fun to see all your friends. That's a "neat" idea to celebrate collectively!! You guys are pretty clever. To walk down Sylvia's street and see her house would probably be more than my brain could handle!!
One thing we can say about Ted Hughes: if he had any feelings for Sylvia Plath, they seem to have died with her. I never read or heard anything beautiful or heartfelt from him about her. He always talks or speaks about her with such a coldness and distance. Its like he never forgave her for having killed herself.
This interview was conducted by Peter Orr October 30 1962. Sylvia passed 3 months later February 11 1963. Shocking to hear the eloquence & life force in her voice knowing it would be silenced so soon after. Peace To All!
This broke my heart... May she rest in peace.
She wanted to stop the pain in her soul
I wish she was still alive.
@@yonathanasefaw9001 me too. Im reading her book yet. :(
So sad, but can relate. Bipolar 2 and suicidal ideation. Poet and former teacher.
Can't believe I actually had the opportunity to hear this. Thanks.
I also can't believe that... standing on the year of 2019 we can hear the voice of her, who left us in the year of 1963....
I grew up in Wellesley, and when I was at Wellesley High, I worked at the local market. Mrs. Plath often had her groceries delivered to her house. I was often the one who delivered food to her. Sylvia sounds very, very much like her mother. Mrs. Plath was very gracious and had a good sense of humor.
Shaun Kelly Hi again, Shaun, would you mind sharing a time frame for this? It is just so amazing to me! Were you aware of Sylvia's work at the time? Ever been approached for interviews or info? Maybe write your story! I would buy it. All things Plathian, Always
Tell me all about her.
Wow🥺👍💗💗💗
Haha I live in Natick! Just the town over
This may seem a bit odd but I find her voice to be very calming.
How come?
i absolutely adore her voice
She sounds kind of northern English, I think she picked up a bit of teds accent
I do too.
She sounds uppity.
It's shocking to know that she took her own life a few months after this interview. Her voice sounds so vibrant and confident. Depression is insidious.
“It is presumptuous to say that one is influenced by someone like Shakespeare; one reads Shakespeare, and that is that.”
I love this woman
Sylvia Plath is a creative idol of mine - her depth of emotion, insight, but also humor (the first half of The Bell Jar is hilarious!) are mindboggling.
+Ellie Newman I found a connection with her work instantly which remains the strongest of any strangers work. I found the more i delved into her life and her relationship with Ted Hughes, the more I felt a deep almost kinship with her. I too have had suicide in my life and depression and anger and love. All things that I think are released through her. As she became more personal, it became more personal. I too think there was lashings of humour in her work. She is a creative idol of mine also, sometimes an overbearing one but never unwelcome.
+Ellie Newman Mine too. I usually don't relate to what she's felling in her poems, but her mastery is so rare and deep.
slapping myself for not having read it and I'm a ridiculous blahblahblah years old. Silly. Just stupid.
Her early letters are so full of humour an d love and joy. I love her air the words she breaths eternal. Yes. bell jar has great humour bye
Ellie Newman the cherry blossom bit lol
Is it weird that I love her? Like seriously love her. Her intelligence, the way her mind worked, and of course her beauty. Those intense eyes and that powerful voice of hers. I wish I had the chance to talk with her, I think I could go hours upon hours talking, no, just listening to her. What a remarkable woman.
No, or at least it doesn't seem weird to me, because I feel the same way. Within the first 5 minutes of reading her quotes I was smitten and blown over. Now I am reading The Bell Jar and it's like having the first *real* conversation I have ever had in my life. I've spent my days desperately trying to get to this kind of honesty with people and, while I have gotten closer with some than with others, nothing compares to her work. This is what I always imagined love was like, and gave up on until now. I have to learn to do what she did, in order to show the right people they can do the same with me. When I die I hope she is the first person I meet so I can thank her and cry and tell her how wonderful we all see she really is. And all of these words just don't even begin to get it across, do they?
I also love her, I`m sure the people she got to know better often had that experience. I never will understand how come any man could leave her, specially with two little children. I wish she had married a more "normal" and decent man, I mean not such a brilliant and selfish poet like Ted Hughes. I`m sure she deserved better than him.
Not at all weird. Extreme intelligence is so attractive.
No. As a straight female I love her. To me I just want to go back in time and help her. Help her with the children and to run off all the home wreckers while she finds herself.
I agree, that isn't weird. I have felt that way about people too. I also think it's rather sweet for you to admit it and say such nice things about her so candidly. That's refreshing to me.
She wasn't 50 years behind. She was 50 years in advance.
Eva Szekely b79
She was talking about preference. As in she was 50 years behind in common the American disposition not 50 years behind in any means of for sight or literary capabilities. So basically I'm informing you that she didn't mean 50 years behind In a negative but rather a positive way.
A know your comment meant well it's just misguided is all. However I still give a thumbs up for the positive intentions.
Àw@@sytskegoossens8390 w2àwaà
clearly
Pure poet, feeling too much of life to bear living it.
Vince B. addicted to feeling
+noBRILOpadheads nobrilopadheads That may be too harsh. There are millions who feel far too little. Modern society tends to be a wee bit on the heartless side!
WE poets see the world for what it is. severe isolation reveals high art act of the pen is out of remembrance, either unrequited things or the dead from our childhood. we drive the places of murder
perfectly put.
@@i_t_f_e___proems Nice attempt at compelling aimless verse; just put in a little more effort and grammar and it may become interesting...
Wow, given her tragic story I had no idea she would sound like this. I was expecting some really fragmented voice struggling to string sentences together and much more monotoned in a lack of energy kind of way. She sounds so bright, cheery, intelligent, charismatic, colorful and melodic. Such a shame she went early. But then again so many great artists do. Who know what she’d have achieved had she stuck around. But glad to have these recordings. Something keeps drawing me back to her. She had something divine about her.
I wish I could have met her.
+Wally Kaspars Me too!
Ugh.
Not I. Brrrrhhhh!
lol
I respect her very much, but from all accounts she wasn't very pleasant irl.
Her story is so tragic, she lived such a difficult short life, yet her poetry was truly inspirational. She influenced female poets in particular for in her time, woman were so stuck in a patriarchal society. Amazing. Her daughter, Frieda still gives talks discussing her mothers work today. SO GOOD.
She actually has the voice of a very educated Bostonian and she was a graduate of Smith. She also went to Cambridge. She was a very educated young lady and she learned to speak well because of it.
Very well-said and summed-up. I live in a university town (Bloomington, Indiana) and there is a wide spectrum of education, wealth, and speaking styles and often all in one place. In a "Fresh Air radio" interview I heard British actor Michael Caine say that America has a class system that isn't based on money "...but on how you talk" and I have found that to be true. Well-educated people do speak differently from those who are not well-educated. Maybe it's a mix of talking like the people around oneself and of learning to love and respect language and communication and of acquiring mastery of the language.
Andrew Brendan wow now that I think about it I suppose.....maybe we have a few different class systems going. but it's true no matter where you are here the less of an (regional) accent you have generally the more educated.....
True. There was a conjecture on another thread where someone said they believed the accent was an invention of Hollywood, and overblown, bad acting. I was happy to be able to link this to that thread, with an actual example of the accent from that period, and regional prime of culture. It's interesting that, now we have the commonality of bland, Californian accent, pervasive even here in Florida, where the Southern dialects are only discernible to Northerners, and not that we simply cannot hear the Southern accents because we are predominately Southern, but that among us, even the differences in Southern accents (Charlestonian as to Georgian, for instance having different vowel drawls), are becoming flattened, and more similar. You only really have true accents in deep places such as LA, (Louisiana, not California) and Tennessee, in the mountains, places further removed, and it's going to become moreso as the reach of technology and, therefore media is pervasive in that way. It seems a cherished thing to hear the regional dialects and those that carry connotation of culture.
Huge phony accent , yeah.
Captain Sunday Although, Andrew Brendan, she sounds to me rather shrill, strident,and unfortunately haughty. I do not find that to be typical of the well educated. Her voice is unique.
I loved when she talked about Anne Sexton, another great poet!!
As both a poet and Scorpio myself, Sylvia is a huge inspiration for me. She is intensely herself and her voice is unmistakable. I hope she rests well now
I love your poems, amazing! Thank you! inspiring, fellow scorpio here💛🦋
may she rest in peace, such a great soul
She's so deep! Matches her sign. (I'm also a Scorpio, and I have the Cancer ascendant.)
@@pereiramwgd Oh how lovely! I'm sure that's intense too, haha. I have Scorpio Sun, Leo Rising💫
Same here, I loved Sylvia's poetry ever since I've started reading it! I am a Scorpio as well and I write poems 🧡
Scorpio poet here also X
Such an intelligent and well educated lady! Had a very eloquent speaking voice and beautiful woman. Never would’ve thought her life would end so tragically. RIP, Sylvia Plath.
I feel so delighted that there are so many interviews and readings from her available. I love hearing her voice, her accent.
She has a mid-atlantic accent, which doesn't naturally occur. It's sort of a mix of American-British accents, but not entirely of either.
It's called "Boston Brahman." Very similar to Katherine Hepburn from the same area, or Thurston Howell III on Gilligan's Island. She has some British inflection which is common to people who have lived there a while.
I beg to differ. It is just as natural an accent as any other. One might as well say that all accents are affected! It is perfectly natural for local variations to occur. Plath's accent has its origins in Lancashire, UK, which is where a lot of early Boston area settlers came from. There are similar isolated pockets of Mid-Atlantic speech scattered throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Appalachians.
Morgaine Bergman
I didn't say "affected," I said INFLECTED. She has a British inflection from having lived there, coupled with her Boston Brahman, which is her base accent. If you're not familiar with the term, that's not my mistake. Her accent is decidedly not Mid-Atlantic. robertspage.com/dialects.html If you refer to the map, everything in purple is Mid-Atlantic. Her accent is called Boston Brahman, as I stated earlier.
KARI166: Actually, the Mid-Atlantic accent does occur naturally. It's called that because it's based on some coastal areas in VA and NC where the accent originates. Hollywood just standardized it.
"Mid-Atlantic Accent" doesn't refer to the geography of the United States - it's a popular term suggesting "half-way across the ocean" between Britain and America, and is used to describe the British-inflected American speech and American-flattened British speech that occurs when people from one place spend a lot of time in the other. Sylvia Plath's speech in this clip is definitely not simply Boston Brahmin - she has taken on a great deal of British intonation.
This interview is such a blessing, to listen to Plath it's so precious
The intensity of her voice exalts me some how. Such a brilliant woman! I love all of her writings and poets. RIP
Yes, very passionate! Sometimes it sounds like she gets so excited that she has run out of air, like an excitable child! Very contagious to me. Can you imagine having her as a Professor/Lecturer? I'm not sure what her proper title was.
I just can't believe I listened to her voice ! This is like a dream come true. To hear one of my most favourite poets is a life time experience. By her voice you can delve deep into her mind and heart how she thought and viewed this world. Just Amazing.
I agree🥹💗💗💗
Same
I feel the same! I'm just speechless.
Edit: the way she pronounced "teen-AGEr" was so compelling❤
Nancy - I was born in January, 1955 and graduated from Wellesley High School in 1973. I was extraordinarily lucky to have Mr. Crockett, who was Sylvia's beloved English teacher as well, as a high school junior. From January to May, 1955, Sylvia and I were literally neighbors - we lived across Weston Road (Elmwood, where she lived) on Mayo Road - a five minute's walk from her Wellesley residence. When then moved to Radcliffe Road across town, but interestingly, our house was right behind Woodlawn Cemetary, where her grandparents, and later on, Mrs. Plath, was buried. Wellesley was much changed in the 1960's; the local Howard Johnson's Restuarant where Sylvia used to hold forth was still there as well as Bailey's Ice Cream across the street where Wellesleyites relished their indescribable frappes (my mother used to have a frappe with a Harvard freshman who was dating her first cousin there back in 1938, a certain young man she always called Jack - John F. Kennedy). Next to Bailey's was the Hathaway Bookstore, Sylvia's favorite hangout (and mine as well) when we were growing up, which, for fifty years, served as the official bookstore for Wellesley College and the unofficial favorite bookshop for the town's residents. Sylvia and I both loved such places as the Wellesley Comunity Playhouse, a great old movie theatre a mile down from Wellesley High, which opened in the late 1920's and closed in 1987 (yes, I went to the last picture show there!). Sylvia and I both at a local diner called Sunshine Dairy. Finally, we even went to the same pharmacy, Fells!
While we were 22 year+ apart, the town was still very much as it had been - and so was Wellesley High. Like Sylvia, I published stories in The Phillipian and The Bradford, wrote featured pieces for The Wellesley Townsman, and even had our lockers along the same row outside Mr. Crockett's Room 206 (according to him). In the small world department, we also summered in the same community on Cape Cod, Eastham. We loved the same beach, Nauset, and every time I go there these days I always think of her there. Our house is situated on a road that Sylvia and Ted sed to bike on there to Rock Harbor in nearby Orleans. Warren Plath lives right down the road from us in Eastham these days. While I still teach outside of NYC, I spend three months of the year on the Cape and will permanently retire there in a few years.
Shaun Kelly Shaun, All I can say is WOW, WOW, WOW!!!! What an amazing post. As I said before, I could talk to you all day! You are so interesting. Thank you for the personal info. I did not mean to pry. I'm just a very curious person by nature. As for myself, I was born July 1951! So, we are close in age. Thank you for the tid bit on Warren. I often wonder about him. I have tried to research him, but haven't been able to find very much. Again, I am so very grateful to you for sharing your information and your life! I don't have anyone to share my love of Sivvy with, so you are a blessing! Happy reading, listening and sharing.
Nancy - will be returning home to Wellesley next weekend for a 60th birthday bash for my Wellesley High classmates. Will take a walk on Elmwood Road while I am there and visit Sivvie's house. slkelly@gcds.net
Shaun, When you say "visit" Sivvie's house, what do you mean? To just walk past it, or can a person actually go inside the house? Is it occupied? What do you mean about the birthday bash? Isn't your b.d. in January? Please don't think I'm daft with all the questions! Thanks for writing back.
Shaun Kelly Warren Plath is still alive? Also, when did Mr. Crockett die?
June 2021. I hope you all are doing well. The magic of CZcams. One can add sometimes a lot, like here, to what is seen. Thank you.
immortalized by her work and intellect
i somehow don't match her voice with her face ? Amazing poet though - so haunting, beautiful
Don't match her voice with her face...why?
This is the first time Ive heard her speak and I was like WOW... I DID NOT expect her to talk so posh. I mean I knew she was highly intelligent and went to universities and everything but I imagined her to have a regular, maybe even sarcastic voice. Come to think of it... her poshness probably explains why Esther Greenwood in The Bekl Jar is a bit snobby sometimes and looks down on certain people, like Buddy Wilard.
With all due respect, I think you've entirely misunderstood Sylviia's manner of speaking. I wouldn't, for example, call a British accent "posh", because it's an accent. That's what it is. Such is the case with Sylvia...she had a typical New England accent, just a rather pronounced one. She used irony, but certainly not sarcasm.
What your hearing is her New England accent. 😉
@@joshuatrees797 she sounds a lot like Jackie Kennedy's accent
I think the Bell Jar is a masterpiece of prose. I don't go for poetry so much but prefer prose and that book is an example of great writing.
@Jake Matthews Thanks Jake I'll check that out. She is so fascinating. She had such great expectations but then decided it wasn't worth it. An individual choice surely.
The Bell Jar is a work of genius.
Long before I discovered Plath I had been drawn to a complicated woman; both loving and selfless with a wicked wit and a struggle somedays to exist in this world. That woman I am lucky to still be with many years later and as I write this. The Bell Jar provided an instant familiarity in Esther: I felt like I was reading upon the diary of a friend I didn't know. It made the ending painfully raw - not the ending on the paper but the true end not long after publishing. RIP Sylvia, I wish this life had been easier for you.
That voice is absolutely intoxicating ❤
"I can't write poems about toothbrushes"
Bukowski could. That would have been a hell of a conversation!
@@michaelbradley6004 He sucks at poetry
Love her voice and her way of expressing herself. Such a sad loss to the creative world.
After seeing her face many times, I would have never thought her voice would sound like this.
Plath’s voice has an authority and command of speech that partly derives from her skill with the sound of language as a poet...but also appears to signify strength of purpose and deep belief in what she is doing. This is not the voice of a woman walking a tightrope, but of one centred with the full assurance of self-belief, or at the very least, strong ambition. I can only imagine her mind - highly intelligent and imposingly powerful - eventually turned against her and she could not fight its dominion.
Yes, a soul with a final beyond boss signature of all things pinned n written!
Love the authority
Her voice is so opposed to her inner turmoil. You would expect, well I certainly did (having had a very similar life to her in terms of suicide attempts and hospitalisation for deep depression) a lilting, quiet voice but she has a very low, forthright voice, very commanding and strong.
The interviewer is fabulous.
***** Thank you.
Despite the time in which this interview took place, 1962, her words and intellectual persona resonates even today. As a student, I aspire to reach her level of grace and poise when speaking. Gone too soon.
A strong voice. Full of beauty and wisdom.
Goddess of poetry psssed away so painfully ever known in the history of literature.Sylvia is stranger than fiction.Will continue to miss her words and existence!
She's so underrated. . . amazing, smart woman. . . RIP Sylvia Plath. . . we love you.
Underrated?! She is in every anthology of American poetry and won a Pulitzer. Underrated? No. She is quite venerated
She is one of the greatest poets and short story and book writers in the 20th Century. She was already gaining a strong reputation by the academics. She is considered the greatest poet of the mid 20th Century. She was a genius. She had no idea of her success "The Bell Jar" was turned down during her lifetime. She never knew she would win a Pulitzer.
she seems so full of life and energy. loved listening to her!
Her accent is one of my favorites. :D
Being intellectual is not such value anymore as it used be. Nowadays everything is about corporation - sale target.
I completely agree. I enjoy reading literature and poetry and I enjoy thought provoking conversations but nowadays people perceive that as arrogance. It's disappointing that our generation isn't intrigued by knowledge
JULIAslt Yes, because "our generation" haven't built particle accelerators, they haven't built interstellar probes. They definitely haven't solved mathematical problems such as the poincaré conjunction.
Now youre seen as pretensious or being affected, which, yes is definitley a thing, but in most cases its idiotic to condemn someone for being intelligent
Agree..
I love the way her personality was. It seemed so wonderful. (:
I find it really sad that after this, she is going to take her own life in a couple of months. She sounds so happy here.
***** Which is why it's even more sad and shocking when the ones that do keep it all in do commit suicide.
+snowcherryleopard I hardly believe she was truly happy.
As someone who suffers from Depression (it is genetic) I can say that she could have been putting on a more enthusiastic tone when speaking. That does not mean she feels happy or is mentally ''okay.'' It could be a mask for the public to see, not necessarily something that is real.
You smile, you laugh and come off as perfectly fine. I do that when dealing with people and society. In reality, I'm miserable.
snowcherryleopard That's the cruelty of depression; you drag yourself up from the pit by tooth and nail, feeling renewed, hopeful and enthusiastic about life and the world, only to fall that much harder when it inevitably comes crashing down again.
On the contrary, I think if you listen carefully you can tell how exhausted her voice sounds : especially the part where she talks about manipulating terrific experiences (which obviously should've remind some of them). By the time this interview was made, she already broke up with Hughes and was certainly into that highly creative yet exhausting and self-destructive period of her last months. She obviously wore herself out writing her best works, and you can tell by reading her Journals how intransigent she was.
She is one of my favorite writer. It is delightful to hear from her. She is well read and obviously well experienced!
I love when she speaks on being a active poet and being a poet at rest.
Sylvia Plath found her voice unlike no other.
Completely unique , and was a trailblazer as well as being firmly rooted in the evolution of what we have come to call 'poetry' in the Western tradition.
as Shakespeare asked,
'who is Sylvia?', ....
She is such an expressive speaker. Really impressionable and you can feel the echoes of the 20th century as speaks and the intensity of her speech is so breathy and absolutely feminine.
She speaks beautifully. It's wonderful to put a voice to a face.
I wonder what she would be writing today.
Artists have to open their minds to produce their work and it leaves them vulnerable to the pain the world offers.
It’s amazing how those that have talent that cannot be taught often die too early creating a mystique that remains in place for a great length of time. Listening to her it’s very believable that she could become detached and intolerant of life’s realities. She must have felt there was nowhere to go that would heal and sustain her. She does a very fulfilling interview. I wonder how she felt an hour later.
I can't believe there's an interview for her i am so glad i get to hear her talking
this was right before she died, practically... she sounds so....confident.
This is sensational - and so strangely soothing and familiar to hear her voice for the first time with this here interview, which I am listening to on Halloween morning. Rereading "The Bell Jar" this year moved me profoundly as an adult revisiting the work I first started to read as a teen in high school. Thank you again! Cheers, Britt
I wasn't ready to hear her speak. Oh dear
I was the same way, Susan! I had read her journals, letters, poetry, bios, etc. Then, I ordered her Spoken Word cd. I couldn't listen to it for months, but when I did, WOW! Many emotions! I cried because I love her and miss her. Kinda weird, huh?
+Susan Kohistany lol me too. It does not sound like the Sylvia Plath/Esther Greenwood of my imagination AT ALL.
She has such a lovely laugh! Shame the interviewer doesn't seem to reciprocate too often, except at 02:09. Thanks for uploading, this was a great interview!
She doesn’t sound like a tortured soul but we all know differently. She is in the gut of the poet & she’s nothing like the polite sounding lady we’re listening to and I mean that as the highest praise.
Yeah tortured by Ted Hughes. I lived with a Ted type for 25 years until I realised he was a narcissist.
I think she had rapidly cycling bipolar disorder. Modern psychiatry and medications could have kept her alive for a very long time.
Incomparable talent and soul
As a postscript, the "televization" of American English has been so pronounced in the past fifty years that regional accents are dying out. We all sound the same these days. Frankly, my mother, who lived her entire life in Massachusetts, and who was twelve years older than Sylvia, spoke exactly like her - all the way to the phrasing and clipped pronunciations. I had a handful of conversations with Mrs. Aurelia Plath growing up in Wellesley - she spoke the same way. Notice that the Kennedy children and grandchildren don't speak with a regional accent, unlike, say, Jack Kennedy (an old friend of my parents - they knew him from 1935 on).
Shaun Kelly Wow, Shaun! Sounds like you've had a very interesting childhood and life. Must say I'm quite envious, having grown up myself in the mountains of East Tennessee with no phone or inside bath!! I've always loved New England and dreamed of visiting there. Thank you for the posts. Very interesting. Keep writing.
Thank you, Nancy. Very lucky to have grown up and been educated in New England. Except for three years in which I taught and lived in London, I have spent my entire life here. By the way, you live in a beautiful part of the country.....
Shaun Kelly Thank you, Shaun, for all your knowledge, information, and kindness. I actually had to leave my beautiful mountains at age 15 due to family problems. I now live in California! I have been very fortunate to experience both east coast and west coast cultures and styles of education. I could discuss this with you for hours, Shaun, but then, it's not about me, but our beloved Sivvy....I do adore her! Until we speak.
Dear Sylvia
You were an intense poem about life as a novel. Burning away all the peripherals and paraphernalia to forge a collosal truth.
That voice. That voice.
What an incredible woman!❤
Her voice is spellbinding
what a marvellous woman
thank you so much for this,she has a very commanding voice one of my favorite poets by far
my heart hurts
First time I'm hearing Sylvia Plath speak and I've just really enjoyed her share
This is back when interviews were about finding depth and perspective and trying to understand the person. Nowadays, interviews are purely about who is dating who and if they cheated and what makeup they recommend (only when sponsored)
Feeling glad to hear her voice.....😍😍😍
So eloquent when she speaks well spoken and speaks with confidence. A moment of firey discourse discourse with Sylvia almost intimidating.
never heard her voice before, great upload.
She was a great poet, novelist, and I commend her for that! I wish there were more great writers like her.
This woman sparked my interest so much. She’s just so intelligent and the was she thinks is so interesting I just wish I could meet her. Have a conversion with her
That's absolutely fantastic, thanks soooo much for uploading !
Her voice sounds like my grandma...She sounds much older than she looks/actually is/how I expected her to sound.
she's putting this on. Listen to her interview with ted hughes together. She sounds normal there.
Thank you for uploading the interview.
I share some emotions, recollections, visions, ways of life and the talking style of Sylvia.
Yes, I must agree... I have learnt a lesson from Her.
Great visionary, poignant, insightful, metarhorical poetry of grief, sadness, love and death... all rolled into one- unexplained life...by Sylvia inspired me to write my own verses.
I translated some of Her monumental poems into Polish, well at least I tried...
There are just a handful of poets so much truthful, intelligent, well-educated and brilliant like Sylvia; Shakespeare, Yeats. Elliot, Dickinson including...
Thank you so much for uploading this!
The writer Doris Lessing upon meeting Plath described her demeanor as “incandescent” slow burn. I hear that in her voice.
Yes, that is Sylvia. As someone who is from Wellesley, she sounds very much like most of the English teachers I had growing up there. Yes, she is an intellectual, but her hard A's (very Winthrop, where she came from originally come through). I also knew Mrs. Plath, her mother - Sylvia sounds very much like Aurelia Plath.
Thank you for the explanation of her accent. I thought her accent was because of her time spent in England but it struck me as unlikely she would pick up an English accent so quickly since she wasn't there terribly long.
Sylvia reads her poetry better than any poet I've ever heard...
Wow! How did you know Aurelia? That is so interesting.
Ella Plitt any doubt?
Her voice is harsh does not match up to her beautiful verses.She must have been difficult to live with especially when her mental health issues began to surface.
She had such a beautiful voice.
Beautifully articulate in real life. Articulately beautiful in poetry.
Terrible to lose her so young, too early. Well-spoken, articulate.
Never thought I'd hear my thoughts out loud by such a being who shared the same lens on such things. I love u Sylvia. RIP. I shall celebrate our birthdays wonderfully.
incredible! it's so great to listen her voice!
It's weird how quickly that American accent dissolved. Where and who speaks that way now?
Nancy, we are celebrating our "big birthday" collectively - the vast majority of us will hit 60 this year (yes, I turned 60 in January). When I am there, I will walk down Sylvia's street - it is easily accessible; Elmwood Road is only three miles from my own street. I can't wait to visit my hometown once again!
Shaun Kelly Shaun, I have been so excited for your visit home and, of course, your birthday bash! I'm sure it was great fun to see all your friends. That's a "neat" idea to celebrate collectively!! You guys are pretty clever. To walk down Sylvia's street and see her house would probably be more than my brain could handle!!
One thing we can say about Ted Hughes: if he had any feelings for Sylvia Plath, they seem to have died with her. I never read or heard anything beautiful or heartfelt from him about her. He always talks or speaks about her with such a coldness and distance. Its like he never forgave her for having killed herself.
i love her voice. i want to fall asleep to it in a good way. it comforts me.
Thank you so much.❤❤❤❤❤👏👏👏👏👏
This was a great interview. The interviewer asked very good and interesting questions.
I'm so glad that she's still alive in her poetry after this much time.
Wow she seems so alive and energetic
Much love to Sylvia! Great poet!!
great talent the complete package but ultimately self destructive.
a Scorpio legend...
I will always love this woman, The Bell Jar is a masterpiece.
I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart. I am, I am, I am.
this women is right on the ball, with everything she says "very sharp".
Brilliant and beautifully insightful ...
I see so much of the bell jar in this interview. I adore her
Wish you a very Happy Birthday. We're so glad to find you. Maybe one day I'll dedicate my book to you.
Hearing her speak, she reminds me a little of Dianne Chambers, from "Cheers" - who I always liked.
British interviewers almost always seem to ask better questions and treat artists more respectfully.